Bomb Detonates In Church Bordering DRC, Uganda

DR Congo's army said on Sunday that an explosive device had detonated in a church in North Kivu province, without giving details about the number of casualties.

According to a statement provided to reporters by military spokesperson Antony Mualushayi, the "terrorist act" occurred in a pentecostal church in the town of Kasindi in North Kivu, which borders Uganda.

"The security services have already taken control of the place and the injured have been evacuated to local health facilities," Mualushayi said, adding that an investigation was underway. 

Details on the ground are vague, and both the number of casualties and the perpetrator of the attack is unknown.

Over 120 armed organisations roam the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, many of which are the remnants of regional battles that erupted at the beginning of the century.

The Allied Democratic Forces, which the Islamic State group describes as its Central African offshoot, is operating in the area of North Kivu where the church bombing occurred.

It has been accused of killing hundreds of Congolese citizens and launching bomb assaults in neighbouring Uganda.

Since its inception in November 2021, a joint Ugandan-Congolese military campaign has targeted the ADF in North Kivu and neighboring Ituri province.