The attack was carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces, linked to the Islamic State
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Jihadist violence has once again struck harshly in the heart of Africa. More than 70 people were killed during a funeral in the town of Ntoyo, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in an attack attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces(ADF), an armed group that has operated under the banner of the Islamic State in Central Africa since 2019.
The incident occurred on Monday night, around 10:00 p.m., when a group of armed men stormed a Christian ceremony and opened fire on those present. According to a priest from the Manguredjipa parish, "What I saw is horrific. They killed almost everyone attending a funeral".
Más de 70 personas fueron asesinadas durante un funeral en la localidad de Ntoyo.
The first official figures indicate more than 70 dead, although local witnesses raise the number to over one hundred. The head of the Babika group, Eugène Viringa, stated that the number of victims could increase, while a neighbor who assisted in recovering the bodies claimed that "the corpses exceeded one hundred". So far, Congolese authorities haven't confirmed a final count.
The ADF emerged in Uganda in the 1990s and, after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State, intensified its offensive against villages and rural communities in eastern Congo. In recent years, they have carried out systematic massacres that have left thousands dead, particularly in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.
In this context, funerals, churches, and Christian celebrations have become recurring targets, as part of a strategy aimed at displacing Catholic and Protestant communities. The Ntoyo massacre fits this pattern of attacks directed against the civilian population.
The DRC, with a Christian majority and a strong Catholic presence, faces a persistent security crisis in its rural areas. Without an effective state response and with limited international attention, the advance of jihadism in the region continues to pose a direct threat to stability and religious freedom.
The Ntoyo attack once again highlights the fragility of the Congolese government and the passivity of the international community in the face of Islamic terrorism in Central Africa.
