A Muslim terror group slaughtered at least 43 people attending a church gathering in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to DRC’s UN peacekeeping force, MONUSCO.

The Allied Democratic Force (ADF), a militant group backed by the Islamic State that targets Christians primarily in the Eastern Congo, was responsible for the July 27 violence in the northeastern region of DRC, according to DRC authorities.

The church, holding a nighttime prayer vigil, was celebrating its 25th anniversary when the attack occurred. According to residents, about 100 people had gathered for the meeting. Among those deceased were nine children and 19 women, according to MONUSCO.

Congolese military spoke about the Sunday attack, reporting that “about 40 people were surprised and killed with machetes and several others were seriously injured.” The military labeled the attackers as terrorists that “have decided to take revenge on defenseless peaceful populations to spread terror.”

ADF also looted and set fire to nearby shops and houses. A church leader reported that children were taken hostage during the 1 a.m. incident, and the children’s ages were primarily between 12 and 14. The violence occurred in the city of Komanda, in the Ituri province. The ADF group reportedly traveled from a stronghold around 7 miles from the city’s center.

In June, local authorities received a letter from the church, asking for security to guard them during church events. But local authorities reportedly neither acted on the initial request nor intervened during the attack. Rather, the army and UN forces appeared after the attack “to count and assess the dead and damages,” another church leader said.

Five people in a nearby village, Machongani, were also killed by ADF before the Komanda attack, the Associated Press in Central Africa reported.

ADF has been connected with over 80 deaths within the last two weeks, the UN peacekeeping mission and local media reports. One 2025 ADF attack involved the slaughter of 70 Christians. The group rounded them into a church and killed them with machetes or hammers. ADF originated in Uganda in the 1990s but moved to DRC in 2002, where it has killed thousands. In 2018, it established its affiliation with ISIS.

Persecution against Christians is on the rise in the DRC. Open Doors, an organization tracking Christian persecution worldwide, reports that in 2024, the DRC ranked as the 41st most dangerous country to be a Christian. However, the DRC leaped to the 35th most dangerous in Open Doors’ 2025 report.

People gather around the charred remains of a burned vehicle following a deadly attack in Komanda, Ituri province of eastern Congo, Sunday, July 27, 2025. Photo: AP / Olivier Okande