2014 South Kivu attack

2014 South Kivu attack
Location of South Kivu in Democratic Republic of the Congo
Location	Mutarule, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date	6–7 June 2014
Deaths	Around 35

Coordinates: 2°59′3″S 29°5′35″E / 2.98417°S 29.09306°E / -2.98417; 29.09306

On the night of June 6–7, 2014, the village of Mutarule, near Luberizi, in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, was attacked. Around 35 people were killed in the attack, with the exact count varying. It is thought the attack was revenge for the death of a cattle herder who died in a failed robbery. The attack may have also been ethnically motivated.

The South Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo hosts people who fled Burundi during the civil war and multiple rebel groups including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the National Liberation Forces (FNL). There are often conflicts in the area between ethnic Barundi, who emigrated from Burundi a couple of generations ago, and ethnic Bafuliru.

In August 2013, eight residents of Mutarule were killed in an attack by unidentified armed men. An armed militia is stationed about 12 miles (19 km) from the village, but the perpetrators of the attack were never determined.

During the evening of June 6–7, 2014, the village of Mutarule in South Kivu was attacked. According to eyewitnesses, gunmen surrounded a local Protestant church and began firing indiscriminately. Other victims, all of whom were ethnic Bafuliru, were stabbed or burned in their homes.