Maimoya highway massacre

Maimoya highway massacre
Part of Allied Democratic Forces insurgency of the Kivu conflict
Location	Mayi-Moya-Chani-chani highway, Beni Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date	22 July 2021
Target	Civilians
Deaths	16
Injured	9
Perpetrator	ISCAP

On 22 July 2021, jihadists from the Islamic State – Central Africa Province (ISCAP) ambushed a convoy of civilians returning from a market along a highway between Mayi-Moya and Chani-chani, Beni Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sixteen civilians were killed in the ambush, and nine more were injured.

Background

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) was founded in Uganda in the 1990s, gaining prominence as an Islamist rebel group and conducting deadly attacks on civilians in the early 2010s. The group pledged bay'ah to the Islamic State in 2019 and began carrying out its first attacks under the ISCAP moniker months later. Beginning in 2021, the ADF carried out dozens of deadly massacres against villages in North Kivu, attacking villagers along ethnic and religious lines.

Massacre

The massacre occurred along the road linking Mayi-Moya and Chani-chani in Beni Territory, and at the time of the attack a convoy of civilians were returning from the market. The ambush occurred in the town of Mayi-Moya (also spelled Maimoya), and began when the attackers launched an RPG that immobilized the vehicle. The director of the hospital in Oicha, where the victims were transferred, stated that all of the victims were shot by the perpetrators. Sixteen civilians were killed in the massacre, and nine others were wounded. All of the victims were residents of Oicha Territory.

Congolese officials attributed the attack to the Islamic State, although ISCAP did not release a statement claiming responsibility.