At least 21 killed as Islamic State-backed rebels attack Congo church: Civil leader

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At least 21 people were killed in an attack on church premises in eastern Congo by Islamic State-backed rebels, according to a civil society leader

KINSHASA, Congo -- At least 21 people were killed on Sunday in an attack on church premises in eastern Congo by Islamic State-backed rebels, according to a civil society leader.

The attack was carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) around 1 a.m. inside the premises of a Catholic church in eastern Congo’s Komanda. Several houses and shops were also burnt.

“More than 21 people were shot dead inside and outside and we have recorded at least three charred bodies and several houses burned. But the search is continuing,” Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komnada, told The Associated Press.

A spokesperson for the Congolese army in Ituri province, where Komanda is located, confirmed 10 dead.

“What we know this morning is that there was an incursion by armed men with machetes into a church not far from Komanda, where about 10 people were killed and massacred and some shops were set on fire,” Lt. Jules Ngongo, the DRC Army’s spokesperson in Ituri, said.

The ADF, with ties with the Islamic State, is a rebel group that operates in the borderland between Uganda and DRC, has routinely conducted attacks against civilian populations for more than a decade.