Komanda, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo — In yet another act of Islamic brutality that has become tragically familiar in Central Africa, Muslims from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) stormed a Catholic church in northeastern Congo on the night of Saturday, July 26. The ADF, a jihadist group pledged to the Islamic State (ISIS), left a trail of death, devastation, and terror.
The Bienheureuse (Blessed) Anuarite Parish in Komanda, a town located 75 kilometers south of Bunia, was the target of this coordinated Islamist attack. The ADF, composed initially of Ugandan rebels and now an official affiliate of ISIS, unleashed gunfire on a church gathering of the Eucharistic Crusade, a Catholic youth movement. The result: at least 43 people killed, most of them young worshippers.
“Before our eyes, we have at least 31 dead members of the Eucharistic Crusade movement, with six seriously injured. Some young people have been kidnapped — we have no news of them,” said Father Aimé Lokana Dhego, the parish priest, in a statement to AFP.
Hours later, seven additional bodies were discovered in the surrounding area. According to Dieudonné Katanabo, head of the Umoja neighborhood where the church is located, “Last night around 9 p.m. (7 p.m. GMT), we heard gunshots near the parish. So far, we have seen 35 bodies.”
Christophe Munyanderu, coordinator of the Convention for the Respect of Human Rights (CNCDH), attributed the massacre to ADF rebels and gave a provisional death toll of 38. A United Nations report released early Monday morning confirmed the number of dead had risen to 43.
Islam Once Again Behind the Slaughter
This was no random act of violence. It was yet another explicitly Islamic attack on Christians, carried out in the name of jihad by a group that proudly flies the Islamic State flag. The ADF has long targeted churches, Christian villages, and schools, leaving a trail of mutilated bodies, abducted children, and mass graves across the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
Despite joint military operations by the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) and the Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF), the ADF continues its campaign of Islamic terror. Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, spokesman for the Congolese army in Ituri province, confirmed the attack and stated: “The enemy would be identified among the ADF.”
Targeting the Young and Defenseless
The victims of Saturday’s attack were primarily children and teenagers, gathered peacefully for worship under the guidance of their parish. The Eucharistic Crusade is a Catholic youth movement centered on service, prayer, and moral formation — and it was specifically targeted for extermination.
“These were young Catholics, massacred in cold blood. This wasn’t just an attack on a building. It was an assault on a generation,” said one church volunteer who helped recover the bodies.
Several young people were kidnapped, and as of this writing, their fate remains unknown.
Calm Shattered, Fear Reignited
The atrocity shattered a rare period of calm in northeastern DRC, where ADF activity had recently declined following aggressive military operations. Locals had hoped the worst was behind them — but Saturday night’s massacre proved otherwise.
“We thought peace was returning. We were wrong,” said Katanabo. “Islamist killers came for our children while they were in church.”
The ADF has murdered thousands of civilians in the region over the past decade — through mass shootings, machete attacks, and abductions. Their allegiance to ISIS has escalated both their brutality and coordination, often targeting Christians with genocidal intent.
Silence from the World
The massacre of dozens of innocent Catholics has, so far, received little international condemnation. Despite the Islamic State’s fingerprints being all over the attack, Western governments and human rights organizations have largely avoided identifying the Islamic ideology driving these crimes.
As families in Komanda bury their dead and search for the missing, one question echoes through the bloodstained pews of Blessed Anuarite Church:
How many more Christians must be slaughtered before the world speaks the truth about Islamic terror in Africa and across the world?
