Authorities said Monday that the toll from Sunday’s attack had risen to at least 14 dead.
The terrorist group and its Aamaq news outlet issued statements saying that its militants had planted an explosive device inside the Pentecostal church in Kasindi and detonated it while people were praying.
“Let the Congolese forces know that their continued attacks on the Mujahideen will only bring them more failure and losses,” Daesh said in its statement.
The terrorists claimed the bomb killed 20. Congolese authorities put the toll Monday at 14 dead and at least 63 wounded.
The injured were evacuated to Beni General Hospital by the UN peacekeeping mission known as MONUSCO, authorities said.
Violence has wracked eastern Congo for decades as more than 120 armed groups and self-defense militias fight for land and power. Nearly 6 million people are internally displaced, and hundreds of thousands are facing extreme food insecurity, according to the U.N.
Source: AP