Fighting between the Democratic Republic of Congo’s military and the M23 rebel group has reached what humanitarian organizations describe as a “breaking point” for civilians in the eastern provinces, with mass displacement, summary executions, and the systematic looting of civilian property reported across a widening area of North Kivu.
A France 24 investigation, drawing on testimony from aid workers, local officials, and survivors, documented a pattern of abuses that the UN has said may amount to crimes against humanity. The M23 — a Tutsi-led rebellion with historical ties to Rwanda — has seized territory across a corridor stretching from Rutshuru to the outskirts of Goma, Congo’s largest city in the east.
What Is M23?
The M23 movement takes its name from a 2009 peace accord — the March 23 agreement — that the Congolese government signed with rebel groups but subsequently failed to implement. The group rearmed in 2021 and has since fought a relentless campaign to seize territory, ostensibly in pursuit of political concessions from Kinshasa.
Rwanda has long been accused by the UN and independent investigators of arming, training, and fighting alongside M23 forces. Rwanda denies the allegations, though the evidence of direct Rwandan military involvement has been overwhelming and consistent across multiple UN reports. The DRC government broke off diplomatic relations with Rwanda earlier this year.
The Civilian Cost
For the estimated 2 million civilians caught in the active conflict zone, the situation defies description. Entire villages have been emptied. Suspected collaborators with one side or the other have been executed in public. Young men fleeing the area are routinely intercepted by either side — if they are deemed military-age males, they are either conscripted or killed.
Goma, a city of more than 1 million people, has seen its outskirts become contested ground. The airport has periodically closed due to fighting nearby. Humanitarian supplies have been blocked from reaching displacement camps, where malnutrition rates rival those in Sudan.
The Army’s Struggles
The Congolese military, despite being one of the largest in Africa, has been repeatedly embarrassed by M23’s battlefield successes. The army has suffered desertions, supply failures, and accusations of collaboration with the enemy. Senior commanders have been dismissed.
The failure has prompted soul-searching in Kinshasa about why, despite years of US and European training and equipment support, the FARDC remains unable to hold its ground against a rebel force a fraction of its size. The answer, analysts say, lies in systemic corruption, poor leadership, and a command structure more focused on political loyalty than military effectiveness.
DR Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi, facing elections next year and under pressure from a public exhausted by decades of conflict, has demanded a new strategy — but options appear limited.