Browsing: M23 Rebels

• Human Rights Watch claims Rwandan-backed M23 group summarily executed over 140 civilians in July 2025, mainly ethnic Hutu people, in at least 14 villages and small farming communities in eastern DRC.
• The killings appear to be part of a military campaign against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a mostly Rwandan Hutu armed group formed by participants in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, and other opposing armed groups.
• The UN Security Council and governments should impose further sanctions on those responsible for grave abuses, and seek prosecution of commanders implicated in war crimes.

A new report by Human Rights Watch has fingered Rwandan-backed M23 rebels for the summary execution of over 140 civilians, who were aminly ethnic Hutu, in at least 14 villages and farm lands in July 2025 near Virunga National Park, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Human Rights Watch said reports show that the …

• A week to Goma takeover by M23 rebels, Rwandan officials informed UN experts that President Kagame had decided to imminently take control of the city and Bukavu as well.
• UN says there has been “rapid military build-up” by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
• Both Uganda and Rwanda have emerged as significant exporters of critical minerals including coltan yet they do not have significant deposits on record.

A leaked report from the United Nations has fingered authorities in Rwanda and Uganda, alleging that the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) receive ‘instructions’ from Kigali, even as Kampala ‘doubles’ its army personnel in the war-ton country.

According to Al Jazeera, the note from the United Nations exposes the continued violation of the territorial integrity and the law by all parties to the conflict gripping eastern DRC. In particular, it accuses authorities …

• The June 27th, 2025, US-brokered Congo-Rwanda peace agreement establishes a critical minerals’ plan for traceability and governance, potentially allowing more transparent trade and fewer chances for smuggling.
• DRC loses an estimated $1 billion annually to illegal mineral exports—much of it smuggled off through Uganda and Rwanda, which have become key exporters of gold and coltan yet they have minimal reserves.

As global powers posture for influence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the recent U.S.-brokered peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda reveals a larger, less visible agenda: securing unfettered access to one of the world’s biggest critical minerals store. While the deal promises regional security and economic integration in an ever volatile area, its deeper implications reflect the intensifying contest between heavyweights U.S. and China over who will shape—and profit from—Africa’s untapped critical minerals wealth.

“The Parties shall use this framework to expand foreign trade and investment …

• Defiant ex-DRC president Joseph Kabila says he has returned to the DRC to “participate in peace efforts”, but his successor, Felix Tshisekedi accuses him of backing the M23 rebels.
• An aide to Joseph Kabila, who left the DRC in 2023, announced that he is seeking “to take part in efforts to find peace in the country.”
• DRC’s conflict, which has been persistent for decades, worsened in January when M23 rebels seized Goma city and soon after, Bukavu.

The roiling crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has taken a fresh twist with former President Joseph Kabila now being directly linked to the M23 rebels, who have claimed large swathes of land in the mineral rich area.

Last week former President Joseph Kabila, who has been residing in South Africa, was warmly received in rebel-held Goma city just days after making a public appearance in Kigali Rwanda, expressing his intent …

• President Felix Tshisekedi is inviting the U.S. to directly purchase critical minerals from Kinshasa, instead of buying “looted” and “smuggled” minerals from Rwanda.
• Rwanda is under immense pressure from the UN, the U.S., the EU, the UK to cease and withdraw their support for M23 rebels.
• In a 2022 update, UNEP notes that DRC has around 3.5 million metric tonnes of cobalt, making it home to one of the largest reserves of this vital resource.

The escalating conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has taken a new twist with President Felix Tshisekedi inviting the U.S. to directly purchase critical minerals from Kinshasa instead of buying “looted” and “smuggled” minerals through Rwanda.

In a statement on Sunday, Tina Salama, who is the spokesperson of President Tshisekedi, called out Rwanda, noting that the neighboring country has for long been involved in looting and smuggling of vital mineral resources from the …

• Over 6.7 million people out of which 40 per cent are children, have been displaced across conflict-affected provinces in DRC.
• UN warns children are facing summary executions, sexual violence and abduction and recruitment by the warring factions.
• 45 children, who were cared for in a day transit centre in Goma to have been killed, UN reports.

An increasing number of children in the war ton Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are facing summary executions, sexual violence amid increasing abduction and recruitment by the factions involved in the escalating conflict.

In an update Thursday by the UN Child Rights Committee, children in violence saddled zones of North and South Kivu to the East of the vast country are coming face to face with grave catastrophe.

The UN agency warned that increasingly, armed groups are targeting displaced children and those left helpless in the streets that have been run over by militias.…

• Looters have wiped out with an estimated 7,000 tonnes of critical humanitarian food supplies in Bukavu City.
• Bukavu, the second largest city in DRC fell to Rwanda-backed M23 rebels at the weekend just weeks after the militia took over Goma in the escalating conflict that worsened in January.
• According to aid organizations, the war in eastern DRC has caused a shortage of humanitarian routes and is now threatening the smooth delivery of essential services in the mineral-rich region.

Food aid in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) took a devastating hit over the weekend, with 7,000 tonnes lost to looting, further deepening the crisis as M23 rebels escalate their attacks. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has condemned the looting of thousands of tonnes of relief supplies in the city of Bukavu in the eastern DRC after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels swept in at the weekend, reportedly meeting …

• WHO has warned that the conflict could wipe out any gains made in recent months in the fight against mpox.
• Across Africa, the DRC has evolved as the epicenter of the ongoing mpox outbreak recording 516 cases in the last week, along with 38 deaths.
• The humanitarian situation in the DRC is affecting not only mpox (response efforts) but also a number of other outbreaks, says Africa CDC.

As the M23 rebels advance on their onslaught across different areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the World Health Organization has warned that the conflict could wipe out any gains made in recent months in the fight against mpox.

Across Africa, the DRC has evolved as the epicenter of the ongoing mpox outbreak recording 516 cases in the last week, along with 38 deaths.

Last week, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya told an online media briefing that “The humanitarian situation …

• M23 rebels reportedly at Kavumu, about 40km north of mineral-rich Bukavu area.
• UN experts claim the M23 rebels – one of over 100 militias seeking control in DRC’s east – is receiving support from about 4,000 soldiers from Rwanda.
• According to Kinshasa, Rwandan soldiers are pillaging valuable resources from the mineral-rich eastern zone of DRC.

As M23 rebels continue pushing deeper into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after capturing the mineral-rich city of Goma, the city of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, is on the verge of falling under their control.

Media reports show that M23 rebels are threatening to march to DRC capital Kinshasa as they push the government of Felix Tshisekedi on the negotiating table to meet their demands. “We will continue the march of liberation all the way to Kinshasa,” announced rebel leader Corneille Nangaa on Thursday, four days after the group confirmed the …