The attack was carried out by members of the Allied Democrat Forces (ADF) around 1am on the premises of the Catholic Church in Commanda in eastern Congo. Several houses and shops were also burned.
“More than 21 people have been shot dead inside and outside, at least three burnt bodies and several homes burned. But the search continues,” Commanda’s civil society coordinator, Dieudonne Duranthabo, told The Associated Press.
Earlier this month, the group killed dozens of people in Ituri, what a UN spokesman described as a blood band.
A spokesman for the Congolese military in Ituri province, where Comanda is located, confirmed that 10 people have died.
“What we know this morning is that there was an armed man invasion of the church by armed men into a church not far from Commanda, where around ten people were killed, slaughtered and several shops were placed on fire.”
MA/PR