Goma, 6 May 2011 – Kiwanja, a locality in Rutshuru territory, 70 km north of Goma, the provincial capital of Nord Kivu, came under attack from armed elements believed to be members of the Democratic Front of the Liberation of Rwanda/Combatants Forces and Army (FDLR-FOCA) on 4 May. Indian Peacekeepers of the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) moved quickly and helped the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) push back the assailants, an attack in which three civilians were injured.

The armed men attacked Kiwanja at about 19 hours (local time) having managed to go around FARDC positions in the area. But the attackers soon came face to face with an FARDC patrol team, with whom they exchanged fire, wounding three civilians. It was at this juncture that MONUSCO peacekeepers operating out of their base in Kiwanja intervened, routing the assailants. Those civilians who were wounded were evacuated by MONUSCO to the local hospital for treatment.

According to several sources, the attack on Kiwanja was launched in response to an operation that the FARDC conducted in the Katamba area of Rutshuru territory the day before. The operation codenamed Jua Mipia in Swahili (the sunrise) had been carried out with MONUSCO's logistical support.

FARDC troops captured five and killed one of the assailants responsible for the attack on Kiwanja. According to Colonel Sylvain Ekenge, FARDC spokesman for Amani Leo operations, the national army suffered the loss of one soldier in its ranks during the clashes.