A suspected extremist attack at a church in eastern Congo killed at least 10 people and wounded dozens more, according to the country’s army.
A group linked to Islamic extremists was suspected of being responsible for a bomb that went off in the Pentecostal church in the North Kivu province town of Kasindi, military spokesperson Anthony Mwalushayi told The Associated Press by phone.
A Kenyan national found at the scene was detained, Mwalushayi said.
Congo’s government urged people to avoid crowds and be vigilant as it conducted an investigation, the minister of communication tweeted.
Videos and photos of the attack seen by the AP showed dead bodies lying on the ground outside the church, including what appeared to be a dead child.
The injured were being carried out of the church surrounded by other people screaming. Survivors and witnesses said the blast severed some people’s limbs from their bodies.
Masika Makasi, 25, was sitting under a tent outside the church when she heard a noise that sounded like a tire going flat, she told the AP from her home in Kasindi.
Her leg was injured in the attack and her sister-in-law, who was several feet away, died instantly, Makasi said.
“I am traumatized from seeing people die around me,” she 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.