SUMMARY

Between 30 July and 2 August 2010, a temporary coalition comprising the Nduma Defense of Congo (NDC), the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR-FOCA), and forces under Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Nsengiyumva orchestrated a coordinated assault on 13 villages along the Kibua–Mpofi axis in Walikale territory, North Kivu province. This temporary coalition, involving approximately 200 combatants, targeted civilians in a region marked by weak state authority and competition over mineral resources, particularly cassiterite.

According to an OCHA report the aim of the attacks was to to target Government forces (FARDC) on the Kibua-Mpofi axis, to loot civilians in particular of weapons, munitions, food and lastly to punish local population accused of collaborating with FARDC.

During the four-day offensive, civilians were killed, raped, abducted and subjected to forced labor. Houses and shops were looted. The assailants employed tactics such as blocking communication routes to prevent victims from seeking help and falsely presenting themselves as protectors before launching attacks.

The violence was confined to the Walikale territory in North Kivu. Subsequent investigations led to the prosecution of key figures such as Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka of the NDC and Nzitonda Séraphin, alias "Lionso," of the FDLR-FOCA. They were both sentenced to life imprisonment for their roles in the attacks.

FDLR-FOCA, Forces of Nsengiyumva, NDC first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2010, when the one-sided violence resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached on 2 August after the coalition killed civilians in villages along the Kibua–Mpofi axis in Walikale territory, North Kivu province.