Masambo attack

Masambo attack
Part of Kivu conflict
Location	Masambo, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date	April 3–4, 2022
Deaths	29 killed
Perpetrator	Allied Democratic Forces

Between the night of April 3–4, 2022, Allied Democratic Forces jihadists attacked the village of Masambo, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 21 people.

Since the 1990s, the Allied Democratic Forces have launched an insurgency in eastern DRC.^[1] After resurfacing in 2013, the group has killed thousands of people, primarily in midnight massacres using machetes.^[2] These attacks increased after 2019, whenever the ADF allied itself with the Islamic State - Central Africa Province (ISCAP).^[1] In response, the Congolese government declared a "state of siege" in the North Kivu region, and increased alliances with neighboring East African countries in sending peacekeeping teams to the area.^[3] In March 2022, two weeks before the Masambo attack, over sixty civilians were killed by the ADF in four villages in Kivu.^[3] The road linking much of the region was a hotbed for violence, with dozens of deadly attacks by insurgents including ADF.^[4]

The attack began on the night of April 3–4, in the village of Masambo.^[5] The ADF attacked with knives and bullets, and residents fled the town in the middle of the night, many heading towards Kasindi.^[6] While some civilians were killed in their homes, many were shot at while fleeing.^[7] Winye wa Benga, the head of Masambo, initially gave a death toll of 11 killed and two kidnapped, but this was revised to twenty-eight civilians and one soldier killed following the discovery of more bodies later in the week.^[7] Three other villages were attacked later that night, but Masambo was the epicenter of the violence.^[7]

Initially, the Congolese army stated it would release a statement on the attack after increasing security in the area.^[8] Ugandan Major Peter Mugisa, a commander in Operation Shujaa, a joint Ugandan-Congolese offensive against the ADF that began in November 2021, claimed that after the attack more soldiers were deployed to Masambo and surrounding villages.^[9]