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.

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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

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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]