Witnesses reported that many victims were hacked with machetes while others were shot or bludgeoned. Homes were also set on fire in what authorities described as a carefully planned assault by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group linked to the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province (IS-CAP).
“This is part of a pattern,” Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) said in a statement condemning the massacre. The Catholic charity stressed that attacks of this kind have become routine across eastern Congo, where militants often act without consequence.
Bishop Melchisédech Sikuli Paluku of Butembo-Beni called on the faithful not to lose hope. “May God, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, console the bereaved and guide his people beyond these days of suffering toward lasting peace,” he said.
The ADF, originally a Ugandan rebel faction, has been operating in Congo’s border provinces for years. It pledged allegiance to IS-CAP in 2019 and has since been accused of widespread atrocities against Christian communities.
In February, more than 70 bodies were discovered inside a Protestant church in Lubero, many mutilated or bound. In nearby Ituri province, militants killed at least 34 worshippers during a church service earlier this year. A July attack on a Catholic night vigil in Komanda left dozens more dead.
The Congolese bishops’ conference has repeatedly denounced what it calls “odious massacres” of innocent believers. Despite military operations involving Congolese and Ugandan troops and a continued UN peacekeeping presence, armed groups remain active across North and South Kivu.
Local officials said burials of the Ntoyo victims have begun and extra security measures are being deployed, though the scale of militia activity remains overwhelming.
ACN urged the international community to act quicky, warning that civilians in the region are living in constant fear and that religious freedom is being crushed by extremist violence.
