page_title: 2017 Semuliki attack
section_title: Attack
hierarchical_section_title: 2017 Semuliki attack / Attack
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Aéroport Mavivi, Nord Kivu, RD Congo&#160;: 8 décembre 2017, evacuation sanitaire vers Goma des casques bleus blessés suite à l'attaque meurtrière, des présumés ADF, contre une Base de la Compagnie Opérationnelle de la Force de la MONUSCO à Semuliki, le jeudi 7 décembre 2017. 15 casques bleus de la MONUSCO ont été tués et 53 blessés. Photo MONUSCO / Anne Herrman English: Beni, Mavivi airport, North Kivu, DR Congo: 8 December 2017, medical evacuation to Goma of peacekeepers wounded in the deadly attack by alleged ADF, against a base of the MONUSCO Force in Semuliki, on Thursday, 7 December 2017. 15 MONUSCO peacekeepers were killed and 53 wounded. Photo MONUSCO/ Anne Herrmann
context_page_description: 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 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 making it the deadliest incident for the U.N. since the deaths of twenty-four Pakistani peacekeepers in an ambush in Somalia in 1993. The attack was among many of the latest flare-ups in violence in the North Kivu region which borders Uganda and Rwanda and one of the ADF's deadliest attacks in recent history. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres labeled the attack, "the worst attack on UN peacekeepers in the organization's recent history."
context_section_description: Shortly before 5:00 pm on December 7, 2017, a large group of armed individuals wearing Congolese army uniforms appeared at the gate of the MONUSCO base located on the banks of the Semuliki river. Expecting Congolese troops, the U.N. peacekeepers let the armed men in who promptly began attacking the base's communications infrastructure, severing connection with reinforcements, although the peacekeepers were able to send a distress call before communications were cut. The Tanzanian peacekeepers returned fire, and ADF reinforcements arrived who outnumbered the peacekeepers. ADF fighters were heavily armed with mortars and rocket propelled grenades and destroyed many U.N. vehicles, including two armored personnel carriers, an ambulance, and a truck. Fighting lasted until 8:00 pm when ADF fighters withdrew. The attack resulted in the deaths of fifteen United Nations peacekeepers from Tanzania and wounded 53 others. Additionally, one peacekeeper remains missing. A further five Congolese government troops were killed. According to a Congolese army captain, 72 ADF fighters were killed though this number remains unconfirmed.
caption: Medical evacuation from Beni Airport of peacekeepers wounded in the attack, 8 December 2017.
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