The Pope, the State Department, and others have all condemned the latest anti-Christian terror attack that occurred Sunday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Very early that morning, rebels from the ISIS-linked Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) burst into a Catholic church in Komanda and hacked to death dozens of Christian patrons with machetes and knives.
#BREAKING: Islamic State-backed rebels killed 43 people on Sunday in an attack on a Catholic church in eastern Congo. The assault in Komanda, a city in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is believed to have been carried out by ADF rebels, wielding guns and machetes. pic.twitter.com/5wCRnhbuQl
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) July 27, 2025
“The rebels also burnt nearby homes,” according to Fox News. “Nine children are said to be among the dead. Several villagers have been abducted.”
According to the New York Times, the parishioners had been celebrating the church’s 25th anniversary when it was attacked.
A letter shared with the Times shows that last month, the church asked local authorities for security for the upcoming 25th anniversary.
“Unfortunately, no intervention took place during the attack,” Father Aimé Lokana Dhego, the priest at the church, said.
“May the blood of these martyrs become a seed of peace, reconciliation, fraternity, and love for the Congolese people,” Pope Leo XIV wrote in a formal statement following the attack.
He also expressed his condolences online:
I renew my deep sorrow for the brutal terrorist attack that occurred during the night between 26 and 27 July in Komanda, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where over 40 Christians were killed in a church during a prayer vigil, and in their own homes. As…
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) July 30, 2025
The State Department warned that the ADF is a terrorist group.
“The United States designated the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), also known as ISIS-DRC, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2021,” a spokesperson told Fox News.
“We are concerned by reports of the recent attack on civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo and strongly condemn this cowardly act of violence against Christians in their place of worship,” they added.
The U.N.’s Stabilization Mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, expressed “deep outrage at these heinous acts of violence, which constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and infringements on human rights.”
The Congolese government, meanwhile, condemned the “horrific” attack while its military described the attack as a “large-scale massacre” executed in revenge for recent operations targeting the ADF.
Why the killings, though? Illia Djadi, a senior sub-Saharan researcher for Christian charity Open Doors, told Fox News that it had to do with the ADF’s desire to turn the Congo into an Islamic state.
“The killings are strategic,” he said. “The ADF have a very clear aim: they want to turn a large part of DRC into an Islamic caliphate, like the horrific one instigated in Iraq and Syria in 2014 by Islamic State.”
“The presence of Islamic State groups across the region means that sub-Saharan Africa has become the new epicenter of jihadism,” he added.
This is despite the area being inhabited mostly by Christians, not Muslims.
Congo Church Massacre: ISIS-Backed Rebels Kill 35+ In Fresh Carnage | On Cam: Cars, Homes Set Ablaze#TNDIGITALVIDEOS #Congo pic.twitter.com/M8waxzlUog
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 28, 2025
ISIS has reportedly taken credit for Sunday’s attack.
The “Islamic State said on its Telegram channel that rebels had killed some 45 churchgoers and burned dozens of homes and shops,” Reuters has confirmed.
According to the State Department, the ADF teamed up with ISIS in 2019 and has been terrorizing “populations in eastern DRC for more than a decade, perpetuating human rights abuses and violence against civilians.”
The group reportedly has roots in Uganda. After longtime dictator Idi Amin was overthrown, a coalition of dissenters began complaining about the allegedly anti-Muslim government of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
“Since then, the group has grown into a potent force but has been pushed out of Uganda’s territories and now operates in the borderlands between Uganda and Congo, often targeting civilians in remote villages,” according to PBS News.
Djadi added in his remarks to Fox News that despite President Donald Trump’s recent peace deal in the DRC, Christians in the country still remain at high risk.
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Author: Vivek Saxena
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