AT LEAST 21 people were killed today when rebels linked to jihadist group Islamic State (Isis) attacked a church in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The early-morning assault was carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) inside the premises of a Catholic church in the eastern Congo town of Komanda. Several houses and shops were also burnt.

“More than 21 people were shot dead inside and outside and we have recorded at least three charred bodies and several houses burned. But the search is continuing,” said local civil society co-ordinator Dieudonne Duranthabo.

Earlier this month, the group killed dozens of people in Ituri in what a United Nations spokesperson described as a bloodbath.

Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, the army’s spokesperson in Ituri, said: “What we know this morning is that there was an incursion by armed men with machetes into a church not far from Komanda, where about 10 people were killed and massacred and some shops were set on fire.”

The ADF is an Isis-backed rebel militia that operates in the borderland between Uganda and Congo, where it routinely attacks civilians.

Mr Duranthabo said: “We are truly disappointed because it is incredible that such a situation could occur in a town where all the security officials are present.

“Some citizens have started fleeing the area and are heading towards Bunia.

“We demand military intervention as soon as possible, since we are told the enemy is still near our town.”

The ADF was formed by disparate small militias in Uganda in the late 1990s following alleged discontent with President Yoweri Museveni.

The DRC military has long struggled against the militia and has recently also been grappling with a complex web of attacks since the renewal of hostilities between it and the Rwandan-backed M23 militia.