Militants Slaughter 60 at Congo Funeral

Islamic State-linked militants disguised themselves as mourners at a funeral in the Democratic Republic of Congo before slaughtering more than 60 Christians — and the world has barely noticed.

Story Highlights

Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militants infiltrated a funeral wake in the village of Ntoyo, North Kivu, on September 8, 2025, killing over 60 civilians with hammers, machetes, and guns.
The Islamic State’s Central African Province claimed responsibility, boasting they had killed nearly 100 Christians.
Amnesty International survivor interviews confirmed attackers mingled undetected among mourners for hours before striking.
The massacre is part of a documented pattern of ADF attacks on Christian communities in eastern Congo that human rights groups call “overlooked war crimes.”

Militants Disguised as Mourners Strike Funeral Wake

On the night of September 8, 2025, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) fighters infiltrated a funeral gathering in Ntoyo, a village in North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to Amnesty International, ADF members quietly mingled among mourners for hours before suddenly attacking, striking people’s heads with hammers. Camouflage-clad fighters then flooded the village, burning homes and killing more civilians with machetes and guns. The initial death toll stood at 60 to 61 before rising to 71. [3]

Local administrator Macaire Sivikunula confirmed that victims were caught completely off guard during the mourning ceremony at approximately 9 p.m. “Most of them were killed with machetes,” he stated. Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) spokesperson Lieutenant Marc Elongo acknowledged that ADF militants had already completed the massacre before soldiers arrived on the scene. [2] The Islamic State’s Central African Province, to which the ADF is affiliated, publicly claimed responsibility and alleged they had killed more than 100 Christians. [1]

A Documented Pattern of Christian Persecution

The Ntoyo massacre was not an isolated incident. Amnesty International’s investigators documented a sustained campaign by the ADF across North Kivu and Ituri provinces, describing a pattern of abductions, killings, and the sexual enslavement of women and girls. Amnesty called these atrocities “overlooked war crimes,” noting that the vast majority of ADF attacks barely make international news headlines. [3] The United Nations estimates the ADF has conducted over 1,000 attacks on civilians since 2014, killing more than 6,000 people. [1]

Just two months before Ntoyo, in July 2025, ADF fighters attacked a church in Komanda, killing 43 people. [4] The ADF has repeatedly framed its targets as Christians or “infidels” in public statements issued through Islamic State channels. The group has exploited a severe security vacuum in eastern Congo, a fact acknowledged directly by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk at a Human Rights Council session in Geneva. [2] These attacks follow a recognizable tactical signature: low-profile infiltration of civilian gatherings followed by mass close-range killings.

Global Silence on Christian Genocide

What makes this story particularly troubling is not just the brutality — it is the silence. While the international media has focused heavily on the broader DRC conflict involving the M23 rebel movement and tensions between Congo and Rwanda, the ADF’s systematic targeting of Christian communities has received almost no sustained coverage from major Western outlets. Amnesty International explicitly described these crimes as “overlooked,” and the pattern fits a disturbing global trend of minimizing violence against Christians. [3]

The ADF’s continued expansion into mining regions underscores that the group is growing in capability and reach. In March 2026, the DRC government reported an Islamic State-linked attack on Congolese mines, claimed by the same ADF network. [5] The Telegraph reported in May 2026 that at least 60 people had been killed across eastern Congo in a fresh wave of attacks targeting Christians in front of their families. [6] Christians in the DRC are being massacred with axes and machetes while the world looks away — and that should disturb every person of conscience regardless of political affiliation.