2025 Komanda Church Massacre, Democratic Republic of Congo

Overview

At around 1:00 a.m. on 27 July 2025, fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces attacked the Catholic church of Saint Anuarite in Komanda, a town in Irumu Territory in the Ituri Province of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, during an overnight prayer vigil. Armed with firearms and machetes, the militants killed at least 43 civilians, among them 19 women, 15 men, and nine children, according to credible local reporting; some early estimates put the toll as high as 50. Attackers also set fire to houses and shops surrounding the church, and additional bodies were later recovered from the burned buildings. Survivors reported that a number of worshippers were also abducted during the raid.

Attribution

The Allied Democratic Forces, operating in eastern DRC as the Islamic State's Central Africa Province (ISCAP) affiliate, claimed the attack through the Islamic State's Amaq propaganda channel the following day. The ADF, led by Musa Baluku since 2015, has operated in North Kivu and Ituri provinces for years and has increasingly targeted civilian and religious gatherings as part of a campaign that analysts describe as intended to spread terror and destabilise communities resisting its presence.

Context

The Komanda massacre came five months after the Kasanga massacre in North Kivu, in which ADF fighters were reported to have beheaded over 70 civilians, underscoring a pattern of escalating ADF violence against civilian and Christian communities across eastern DRC in 2025. Analysts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and other observers noted that the Islamic State's African affiliates, including the ADF, accounted for a growing share of the group's global operational tempo during the year, even as its core structures in Iraq and Syria remained diminished. The continuing violence occurred against the backdrop of a broader security collapse in eastern Congo driven in part by the M23 rebel offensive, which strained the Congolese army's capacity to respond to ADF attacks in Ituri and North Kivu.

International Response

The United Nations condemned the massacre, with the UN Secretary-General's office calling for accountability and urging the Congolese government to strengthen protection of civilians in Ituri Province. The Vatican, through Vatican News, described the killings as part of a "grim tapestry of violence" against Christian communities in the region and expressed condolences to the victims' families. France's Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs issued a statement condemning the attack and reaffirming support for stability efforts in eastern DRC. The massacre renewed calls from human rights and religious freedom organisations for expanded international support to counter ADF/ISCAP operations in the region.