Seventy decapitated bodies were discovered in a Protestant church in a small village in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), amidst an ongoing conflict between the DRC and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group.

The bodies were found in the town of Kasanga, located in the Lubero Territory in the eastern province of North Kivu, on February 15th, according to Open Doors, a non-denominational Christian organization that supports persecuted Christians worldwide.

The province of North Kivu has become a flashpoint of a continuing war between the government of DR Congo and the M23 rebels after the Rwanda-backed rebel group seized the provincial capital of Goma last January, where over 2,000 people were killed, and over 2,000 more were injured.

No group has taken responsibility for the brutal killings. Still, Open Doors and other organizations blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamic state-affiliated rebel group operating in Uganda, and the DRC, for the murders, citing "field sources."

Local sources contacted by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International said the killings took place between February 12 and 15. They also said the rebels entered the village of Maiba and took 100 people hostage.

Alain Kiwewa, the military administrator for the Lubero Territory, told pan-African news agency Agence de Presse Africaine that he was investigating the incident.

"Local sources suspect the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist group of Ugandan origin affiliated with the Islamic State, as well as local armed groups, of being responsible for the massacre. These groups have maintained a climate of terror in the region for several months," the agency said.

The Islamist armed group, originally from Uganda, has been operating in both Uganda and the DRC for over a decade. Both Uganda and the United States designated the ADF as a terrorist entity.

The agency also said the victims, who had been “tied up and decapitated with knives," had been kidnapped by the Islamist group on February 12th. In addition, sources told the ACN that some of the victims, who included women, children, and elderly people, were bound. In contrast, others were beheaded with a machete, possibly to instill fear and exert control over the local population.

The ADF is known for its violent tactics, and the source told the ACN that the 70 victims might have also been killed because they were unable to keep up with the forced march.

“It is likely that these victims were unable to resist or endure the forced march because when the rebels take hostages, they make them travel with them, either as reinforcements for their group or as forced labor for the war effort,“ the source, which the ACN did not name for fear of possible reprisals from several armed groups that operate in the region, is quoted telling the ACN.

The sources also said the abductors forced the hostages to carry the loot they stole after raiding the villages.

“If you get tired on the way, you’re done,“ the source told ACN. “I believe that is what happened to these 70 people.“

“The Islamic groups have stepped up their attacks and raids in remote villages, killing thousands of Congolese civilians. Before, they used to be in other areas, but now it is Lubero which is being attacked,“ the local source added.

Lastly, the ACN’s local sources expressed fear that the M23 rebel group might seize Butembo, North Kivu’s second-largest city, as it did with Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capital of the nearby province of South Kivu.

“We are living through very, very difficult times. We are expecting the rebels to enter the city any moment now, as they are only 70 kilometers [about 44 miles] away from here. There is a lot of psychological suffering in Butembo because the war is literally at our door. We have seen how other regions were overrun by chaos, and now it seems it is our turn,“ the source said.

The source concluded with a call to prayer, saying, “Let us pray. Prayer is what keeps our hope alive amidst this situation we are living through.“