A local church partner of the Christian charity Open Doors has given a harrowing eyewitness account of the aftermath of the July 27 massacre at a Catholic parish in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in which 49 Christians were slaughtered, according to FOX News.
Militants affiliated with the Islamic State stormed the Blessed Anuarite Parish in Komanda during an early morning vigil July 27, CatholicVote previously reported. Using machetes and firearms, the attackers killed parishioners and set fire to surrounding homes and shops.
The eyewitness, identified by the pseudonym “Judith” for her safety, spoke to Fox News Digital after traveling to Komada hours after the attack to witness the devastation and help survivors.
When she arrived, Judith found villagers in stunned silence near the charred remains of their homes and shops, mourning the dead and searching for the missing, FOX reported.
"Attackers came in, and they beheaded Christians in the church,” she said. “Those who tried to flee, they caught them and killed them in the compound. And then some others who managed to run towards the road, those also were caught and killed. All of them were killed with machetes.”
Judith reported that most of the Christians who were killed were Catholic.
FOX News reports that the death toll, initially estimated between 10 and 43, has now risen to 49. Among the dead were nine children who were decapitated. Several other children were abducted, though the number remains unclear.
The attack occurred as worshippers from surrounding villages gathered to celebrate the church’s Silver Jubilee and pray for peace.
“We don’t even understand why this is happening,” a local shopkeeper told Judith after his business was burned to the ground.
In the wake of the attack, the United Nations organized a mass burial, using heavy machinery to dig a communal grave for the victims. Many of the dead had previously fled to Komanda after surviving violence elsewhere, FOX reported.
Judith recounted the grave devastation at Monday’s funeral.
“People were crying, weeping, some crying for their children who had been kidnapped,” she told Fox News Digital. “One woman cried for the man she was shortly due to marry, now lying dead. Others were also crying that this is the person that was taking care of me. Now the person is no more.”
She added, "There was sadness upon sadness everywhere. Everything they had is lost; they have nothing now."
Pope Leo XIV condemned the massacre earlier this week with “consternation and deep affliction,” expressing solidarity with the Church in the DRC and calling for international efforts to restore peace to the region.