"[8] Since the early 1990s, the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been a hotbed of ethnic violence and human rights violations[9] partially because the area is located adjacent to Rwanda and Uganda.

[10] Much of the fighting has been over the access to mineral deposits which are plentiful in the region and the Kivu conflict has led to the deaths of thousands of people and the displacement of millions more.

[11] The United Nations has maintained an international presence in the region under the banner of MONUSCO since 1999, deploying peacekeepers and sending humanitarian aid.

[16] The same month, ADF fighters killed 22 people, many of them state officials, in the Beni region, when they ambushed a convoy of motorcycles with machetes and guns.

[17] 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 Semliki River.

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.