21 killed in assault on east Congo church by Islamic State-backed rebels, civil chief says

[ad_1] GOMA, Congo (AP) — The demise toll from an assault on a Catholic church in japanese Congo by Islamic State-backed rebels has risen to 34, in response to a civil society chief.

“The our bodies of the victims are nonetheless on the scene of the tragedy, and volunteers are getting ready easy methods to bury them in a mass grave that we're getting ready in a compound of the Catholic church,” Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komanda, within the Ituri province, informed The Related Press.

No less than 5 different folks had been killed in an earlier assault on the close by village of Machongani, from the place a search is ongoing.

“They took a number of folks into the bush; we have no idea their vacation spot or their quantity,” Lossa Dhekana, a civil society chief in Ituri, informed the AP

Each assaults are believed to have been carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Pressure (ADF) armed with weapons and machetes.

The navy has confirmed at the very least 10 fatalities, whereas native media experiences put the whole demise toll at greater than 40.

Duranthabo mentioned attackers stormed the church in Komanda city at round 1 a.m. A number of homes and retailers had been additionally burnt.

Lt. Jules Ngongo, a Congolese military spokesperson in Ituri province , confirmed 10 killed within the church assault.

Video footage from the scene shared on-line appeared to point out burning constructions and our bodies on the ground of the church. Those that had been in a position to establish a few of the victims wailed whereas others stood in shock.

A U.N.-backed radio station mentioned 43 folks had been killed, citing safety sources. It mentioned the attackers got here from a stronghold round 12 kilometers (7 miles) from the middle of Komanda and fled earlier than safety forces might arrive.

Duranthabo condemned the assault “in a city the place all the safety officers are current.” He added: “We demand navy intervention as quickly as potential, since we're informed the enemy remains to be close to our city.”

Japanese Congo has suffered lethal assaults lately by armed teams, together with the ADF and Rwanda-backed rebels. The ADF, which has ties to the Islamic State, operates within the borderland between Uganda and Congo and infrequently targets civilians. The group killed dozens of people in Ituri earlier this month in what a United Nations spokesperson described as a bloodbath .

The ADF was fashioned by disparate small teams in Uganda within the late Nineteen Nineties following alleged discontent with President Yoweri Museveni.

In 2002, following navy assaults by Ugandan forces, the group moved its actions to neighboring Congo and has since been accountable for the killings of 1000's of civilians. In 2019, it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), which has lengthy struggled towards the insurgent group, has been going through assaults because the renewed hostilities between the Rwanda-backed M23.

-

Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria and Saleh Mwanamilongo contributed to this report

window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '870613919693099', xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' }); };

(function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); [ad_2] Source link