2017 Semuliki attack

2017 Semuliki attack
Part of Allied Democratic Forces insurgency

Funeral ceremony paying tribute to the fallen Tanzanian soldiers, in Beni, 11 December 2017.
Date7 December 2017
Location
Semuliki, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Result Indecisive
Belligerents

MONUSCO[1]

 Democratic Republic of the Congo		 Allied Democratic Forces (suspected)[2]
Strength
Allegedly several hundred
Casualties and losses
15 peacekeepers killed
53 wounded[3]
1 missing[4]
2 APCs destroyed
Democratic Republic of the Congo 5 soldiers killed		 72 killed (Congolese claim)

The 2017 Semuliki attack was an attack carried out by elements of the Allied Democratic Forces on a United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) operating base in the Beni Territory, North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on December 7, 2017. The attack was highly coordinated and resulted in the deaths of fifteen U.N. peacekeeping personnel and wounds to 53 others[5] making it the deadliest incident for the U.N. since the deaths of twenty-four Pakistani peacekeepers in an ambush in Somalia in 1993.[6] The attack was among many of the latest flare-ups in violence in the North Kivu region which borders Uganda and Rwanda[7] and one of the ADF's deadliest attacks in recent history. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres labeled the attack, "the worst attack on UN peacekeepers in the organization's recent history."[8]

  1. ^ "North Kivu – Attack on MONUSCO troops at Semuliki, at least 14 Peacekeepers and 5 FARDC soldiers killed". MONUSCO. 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  2. ^ "Attack on Peacekeepers in DRC Indicates Increasing Extremist Activity". Atlantic Council. 2014-09-29. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  3. ^ Burke, Jason (2017-12-08). "Islamist attack kills at least 15 UN peacekeepers and five soldiers in DRC". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  4. ^ "UN announces special probe into attacks on peacekeepers in eastern DR Congo". 6 January 2018.
  5. ^ Sieff, Kevin (8 December 2017). "At least 15 U.N. peacekeepers killed in attack in Congo". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 11 December 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  6. ^ "26 U.N. Troops Reported Dead in Somalia Combat". The New York Times. 1993-06-06. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  7. ^ "North Kivu factsheet" (PDF). UNMissions.org. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  8. ^ "United Nations Attacks Fast Facts". CNN. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2018.