EXPLAINER

News|Conflict

Rwanda-DRC tension: Have rebels taken control of Congolese city? What next?

M23 fighters have been pressing to capture the key city of Goma for months and intensified their offensives in recent days.

By Shola Lawal

Published On 27 Jan 2025

The M23 rebel group has declared the key city of Goma under its control, signalling a major blow to the Congolese army and a serious escalation in the years-long conflict that has seen hundreds of people killed and millions displaced in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Goma’s reported capture on Monday came after M23 – which the United Nations says is backed by neighbouring Rwanda – advanced rapidly on Congolese army positions last week. Throughout the day, a barrage of gunfire and explosions rocked the city, which is the capital of North Kivu province and a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.

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Hundreds of thousands of residents and previously displaced people fled to neighbouring towns in panic. Social media footage showed huge crowds moving on foot and motorbikes, carrying luggage on their heads and backs.

The crisis, which reignited in 2022, has displaced millions of civilians in the eastern DRC. More than 237,000 people were displaced in January alone, according to a recent report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Here’s what you need to know about M23’s ambitions and the latest fighting:

Who are the M23 rebels and who backs them?

M23, or the March 23 Movement, is one of hundreds of armed groups operating in the eastern DRC and seeking to control critical mineral mines. The group is composed of Tutsi fighters and claims to be fighting for the rights of the DRC’s minority Tutsi population. It emerged in 2012 after a group from the armed forces of the DRC (FARDC) broke away, complaining of ill-treatment.

The DRC government and the UN accuse Rwanda under President Paul Kagame of supporting M23 with soldiers and weapons in a bid to control the mineral-rich eastern DRC. Rwanda denies the charge and accuses the DRC of harbouring members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, an anti-Kagame rebel group that was involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The UN estimates there are up to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers in the DRC.

In 2012, M23 first seized Goma, but the Congolese army, supported by a UN force, pushed the rebels back into the eastern hills on the border with Rwanda in 2013.

However, the DRC faced a resurgence of M23 violence in 2022. The group has since advanced on Goma, seizing territory in battles with the Congolese army and two peacekeeping missions: the UN mission to the DRC (MONUSCO) and the South African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the DRC. South African troops, as part of the UN mission, were crucial in the 2013 defeat of M23.

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