# Funeral attack in eastern DR Congo leaves at least 70 dead, eyewitness says
Suspected Allied Democratic Forces rebels attacked a funeral in Ntoyo, North Kivu, killing at least 70 people, according to an eyewitness quoted by Anadolu.
The supplied evidence describes one of the deadliest recent attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Anadolu Agency reported that suspected ADF rebels attacked a funeral gathering in Ntoyo, North Kivu, on September 8, 2025, and quoted an eyewitness saying the toll was more than 70 people, most of them killed by bullets.
The source material is cautious about attribution: it calls the assailants suspected ADF rebels rather than presenting a final official determination. That distinction matters in a region where armed groups often operate in overlapping territory and initial casualty figures can shift as authorities and local witnesses update counts.
Even with that caution, the reported scale is severe. A funeral is ordinarily a moment when civilians are gathered in a predictable location, which can make the attack especially devastating. The quoted witness said they had not been able to count the bodies precisely but believed the death toll was at least 70. The evidence does not provide a formal government total, an injury count, or a breakdown of victims by age or gender.
Because only one source is supplied, the article does not try to reconstruct the broader military situation in North Kivu or the ADF’s operational footprint beyond what is stated in the excerpt. It also does not assert whether nearby security forces responded immediately or whether any arrests were made. Those details are absent from the evidence and are therefore left out.
The key verified fact is the attack itself and the scale described by the eyewitness. The source says the victims were killed mostly by gunfire. That supports a portrait of a direct assault rather than a blast or fire, even though the packet does not describe the exact sequence of the attack in detail.
The event date in the packet is September 8, 2025. This article uses that date only as the date of the incident.
The reporting also underscores the persistent danger faced by civilians in eastern Congo, where funerals, markets and roads are frequently vulnerable to violence. But because the supplied evidence does not present a broader analysis, this article stays with the immediate, verifiable facts: an attack on mourners, a suspected armed group and a death toll that at least one eyewitness put above 70.
Citations
- Anadolu Agency reports a suspected ADF attack on a funeral in Ntoyo, North Kivu, and quotes an eyewitness saying more than 70 people were killed.
