At least 89 Christians were killed in an overnight attack on a funeral service and in nearby villages in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local church groups and militant-monitoring organizations said.
Open Doors, an international organization that tracks persecution of Christians, said about 70 people were killed while attending a funeral, with the remainder slain in the villages of Potodu and Ntoyo. The U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant activity, said the death toll approached 100 and that responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), also known as Islamic State Central Africa Province (IS-CAP).
A local pastor, identified by Open Doors as Rev. Mbula Samaki, described assailants arriving at the funeral and opening fire. "Those who tried to flee were shot dead, and others were killed with machetes," he told an Open Doors partner. Open Doors and other sources said many villagers remain missing following the attack.
An African Open Doors partner who asked to remain anonymous because of security concerns said there were multiple other attacks in August that went unreported. "If we take just August, there's been over 10, we have documented 10 attacks, but there have been a lot more which go unreported," the partner said. "The people, they say we are tired, when will this come to an end? Because it's every day you hear someone has been killed."
The ADF, an Islamist armed group with roots in Uganda, has been active in eastern DRC for years and has pledged allegiance to Islamic State. The group was blamed for an attack in July that killed 49 people worshiping in a church in the village of Komanda and for earlier killings in Irumu, according to reports from human rights monitors and local officials.
Congolese security forces have been engaged in operations against the ADF, and other foreign and local actors have sought to stabilize parts of eastern DRC. A Western diplomat and local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said government operations have had limited reach beyond major towns and that militants continue to carry out raids in rural communities.
Following the latest attack, a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "The Trump administration condemns in the strongest terms this horrific violence against Christians in the DRC and is committed to advancing the Washington Accords to bring peace back to the region and end targeted killings." Local Christian leaders called on the international community to increase pressure on the DRC government to strengthen protection for civilians.
Humanitarian groups and local church networks said the victims included women and children and that burial ceremonies were held in Ntoyo amid heavy rain. Photographs released by aid groups show volunteers digging graves and crosses placed at makeshift gravesites.
The violence in North Kivu forms part of a long-running insurgency that has displaced millions and prompted repeated calls for a stronger military and international response. Observers say attacks by the ADF and other armed groups have increasingly targeted civilians, including religious gatherings, intensifying fear and displacement in communities already suffering from chronic insecurity.
Fox News Digital reached out to the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo for comment and did not receive an immediate response. Reports on the incident cited statements from Open Doors and SITE Intelligence Group, and accounts from local church leaders and partners at the scene. Associated Press and Reuters contributed reporting to early accounts of the attacks.