by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
KINSHASA (Worthy News) – In one of the deadliest anti-Christian atrocities in recent months, attackers linked to the Islamic State group used machetes and guns to kill at least 61 civilians at a funeral in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday night, local officials said.
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which the Islamic State rebranded as its Central Africa affiliate Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP), claimed responsibility, saying they had killed nearly 100 Christians, according to the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist groups.
The attackers also torched about 30 houses during the raid in Ntoyo village, Lubero territory in North Kivu province.
Local administrator Macaire Sivikunula confirmed the body count, noting most were hacked to death with machetes. Elsewhere, 18 more were killed in a separate suspected ADF attack on the village of Bingi, also in Lubero territory, the same night.
Witnesses described scenes of terror. Samuel Kagheni, a local civil society leader, said: “As well as using machetes, the assailants also shot dead some victims and set fire to vehicles.”
Resident Alain Kahindo Kinama added,“Congolese soldiers only arrived at the scene on Tuesday morning. By then, many people were already trying to leave the area.”
Congolese army spokesperson Lieutenant Marc Elongo confirmed that ADF militants had “already committed the massacre” before troops could intervene.
UN CONCERNED
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, condemned the massacre during a Human Rights Council session in Geneva on Tuesday, warning the ADF had exploited a “security vacuum” to intensify their brutality.
The ADF originated in the 1990s as an Ugandan Islamist insurgency opposing the government in Kampala.
Pushed out of Uganda, the group entrenched itself in the forests of eastern Congo, where it funds operations through illegal mining and smuggling. Though the Islamic State now brands it ISCAP, the militia is still widely known locally as the ADF.
The atrocity is the latest in a string of anti-Christian attacks. In July, militants stormed a Catholic church in Komanda during a night vigil, killing at least 38 worshippers.
In February, suspected ADF fighters abducted and beheaded 70 Christians inside a Protestant church in Kasanga, while last month a further 66 civilians were massacred in Ituri’s Walese Vonkutu chiefdom in what UN officials termed a “bloodbath.”
Open Doors, an international Christian advocacy group, says such attacks underscore mounting persecution in eastern DRC, where places of worship, funerals, and prayer gatherings are frequent targets.
CONDITIONS WORSENING
The group reports that conditions have sharply deteriorated, pushing the DRC up to number 35 on its 2025 World Watch List of 50 countries where it says Christians face the most severe persecution.
The broader international community has also expressed alarm.
Earlier this year, the European Parliament condemned the ADF church massacres and called for accountability via international courts.
Human Rights Watch described the church killings as acts of “incomprehensible brutality.”
Pope Leo XIV expressed “deep sorrow” for the Christian victims.
Additionally, the United Nations peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) has pledged to bolster civilian protection in the embattled Kivu and Ituri regions.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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