Militants from the Islamist rebel group known as the Allied Democratic Forces launched a deadly assault on a parish in North Kivu, a province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The attack claimed the lives of at least 64 individuals, with many victims reportedly killed by beheading.
“The victims were caught off guard at a mourning ceremony in the village of Ntoyo at around 9:00 PM, and most of them were killed with machetes,” a local official said.
“The attackers used firearms and hammers, and some homes were selectively set on fire,” Aid to the Church in Need reported.
“To all the families affected by this umpteenth and horrible carnage,” said Bishop Melchisédech Sikuli Paluko of Butembo-Beni, “and to all the faithful of the parish, we express our spiritual closeness. May God, the Master of Life, strengthen us through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, consoler of the afflicted, and lead us beyond the desert of present-day suffering to lasting peace.”
In July, at least 34 people were killed in an Islamist terrorist massacre at a parish in the adjacent Ituri province.
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