38 killed, 15 injured in church attack in Congo

KABUL (Pajhwok): At least 38 people were killed and more than 15 others injured in an attack on a church in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to media reports.

The attack, reportedly carried out by suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), took place early Sunday in Komanda, a city in Ituri province, Al Jazeera reported.

Armed with guns and machetes, the assailants stormed a Catholic church operated by the Caritas charity during a prayer vigil.

Several houses and shops were also set ablaze, and many people remain unaccounted for following the violence.

DRC’s Radio Okapi reported a higher death toll of 43, noting that more than 20 victims were killed with bladed weapons inside the church. Additional bodies were discovered in nearby burned homes.

“What we know this morning is that there was an incursion by armed men with machetes into a church not far from Komanda,” said DRC army spokesperson Jules Ngongo.

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