Demonstrators protest against military attacks on the Banyamulenge people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the Capitol in Washington. File
| Photo Credit: AP

While a peace deal is proving slow to take effect on the ground, the M23 armed group is consolidating its political and economic hold on the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It has begun recruiting officials and imposing taxes, as well as training judges, soldiers, and police, in a bid to create parallel administrative structures to those of the Kinshasa government.

Eastern DRC, rich in mineral resources and bordering Rwanda, has been riven by conflict for more than 30 years. The crisis intensified with the 2021 resurgence of the M23 — a Rwandan-backed armed group fighting the Kinshasa authorities — and came to a head early in 2025 when the militia seized the key cities of Goma and Bukavu.

The M23 subsequently found itself in control of a vast territory where everything needs to be rebuilt. The government has shuttered banks and most other administrative services in the volatile East, and many civil servants have fled.

The M23, whose stated aim is to overthrow the government of President Felix Tshisekedi, plans to “establish a new model of administration [based] on transparency and efficiency”, the leader of its political wing, Corneille Nangaa, said in late September 2025.

Experts contacted by AFP said the movement hoped to convince the Congolese people and international community that it had the ability to govern. In its first few months, it appointed provincial Governors, Mayors and local administrators and began issuing identity papers and administrative documents.

But Goma and Bukavu — the capitals of North and South Kivu provinces respectively — have gone for months without police or courts, and local witnesses point to a sharp rise in crime. The closure of banks and trade routes has worsened the already ongoing economic crisis.

Police recruits and lawyers

Since August 2025, the M23 has announced a series of changes. It released a video showcasing its new police force, composed in part of former government officers. It was unclear if they had joined the group’s structure willingly or by force.

The M23 footage sought to stress the professionalism of its new recruits, contrasting them with the national police force, which has a reputation for entrenched corruption. It showed police officers in riot gear demonstrating their strength and investigators in overalls practising how to analyse a crime scene.

The group has also organised a recruitment exam for more than 500 lawyers, with a view to integrating them into the judiciary.

Until now, the M23 has “operated its imposed governance structures without basic legal safeguards or accountability mechanisms, resulting in arbitrary punishments and extrajudicial executions”, United Nations experts said in a report in July 2025.

Mass roundups of people deemed suspects have helped reduce crime but at the cost of numerous abuses denounced by international organisations.

‘External support’

The M23 also told the public it had recruited 7,000 newly trained soldiers. Their usefulness and loyalty remain to be tested, as many are former Congolese army soldiers captured during M23 offensives in early 2025. They may enable the armed group to better control its rear guard, where security sources say pro-Kinshasa militias are engaged in guerrilla warfare to undermine it.

Deploying these troops raises questions about the M23’s sources of financing in a region without a banking system. “M23 cannot do without external support for the time being, given that the ongoing military operations require colossal funding,” said Reagan Miviri from the Congolese research institute Ebuteli.

To compensate for the banks’ closure, the M23 has set up a financial authority to centralise its revenues. It has also created, or reinstated, taxes, particularly on trade and mining activities.

Some are too much to bear for people already suffering from the lengthy regional conflict. “We have lost everything because of them and yet they have no qualms about imposing exorbitant taxes on us,” said a civil society activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The main trade union in South Kivu wrote to the M23 late last month pleading for tax relief. In the letter, seen by AFP, the union said it was “virtually impossible” for the local population to meet the M23’s tax demands, when they were “already suffocating” due to the rising cost of living, unstable exchange rates, war-related losses and the fact that any savings they had were frozen in government banks.

Published – October 06, 2025 01:15 pm IST

Congolese Major-General Somo Kakule Evariste walks as he arrives to assume office as the new military governor of the conflict-hit North Kivu province amid tensions following clashes in Goma between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo January 31, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The majority of Indian nationals living in violence-hit Goma in Congo have moved to safer places, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, said on Friday (Janaury 31, 2025).

The M23 rebel group, backed by Rwandan soldiers, has taken complete control of all key locations in Goma, including the airport, and the Congolese armed forces have given up showing white flags, according to defence sources.

Also Read | Congo’s leader calls for massive military mobilization as Rwanda-backed rebels expand their control

Calling for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, Mr. Jaiswal said: “We are closely following the developments in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We remain concerned at the deteriorating security situation.”

“Our Embassy in Kinshasa has issued advisories for Indians living in the Goma area where the conflict has taken place,” Mr. Jaiswal said. “There are about 1,000 Indian nationals in Goma. Most of them have moved to safer places since the outbreak of the conflict. The Embassy remains in regular touch with the community for their welfare and safety.”

‘Firing has stopped’

According to defence sources, firing has stopped in Goma, and all Indian troops – over 1,200 – deployed under the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) are absolutely safe. “Situation in the area is relatively calm. There is no effect on unit deployment. UN mandate is being fulfilled as required.,” one official added.

On the Indian troops, Mr. Jaiswal said they were in regular touch with the UN on the evolving situation in DRC.

Indian troops are deployed at two locations – Goma and Sake.

Also Read | Congo’s forces try to slow Rwanda-backed rebels in the east as protests break out in the capital

The mission MONUSCO headquartered at Kinshasa was established in 2010 replacing the earlier MONUC. As of October 2024, there were 13,971 personnel, with Bangladesh being the highest troop contributing nation with over 1,700 troops.

The M23 rebel group swept through several towns beyond Goma, a city of two million, in the last few days, and the intense fighting has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee.

Members of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) ride on a pickup truck as they secure the evacuation of non-essential UN staff, following the fight between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), in Goma, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, January 25, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Nine South African soldiers have been killed in eastern Congo’s conflict zone, the South African defence department said on Saturday (January 25, 2024), as Congolese troops and peacekeepers battled to stop an advance by Rwanda-backed rebels on the city of Goma.

Democratic Republic of Congo and its allies earlier repelled an overnight advance on the provincial capital of over 1 million people, two army sources said. The sound of nearby heavy bombardment rocked the city in the early hours.

The three-year M23 insurgency in Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich east has intensified in January with rebels seizing control of more territory than ever before, prompting the U.N. to warn of the risk of a broader regional war.

As of Friday, two days of fierce fighting had killed two Southern Africans deployed with the U.N. peacekeeping mission and seven others in the Southern African regional bloc’s force in Congo, the South African National Defence Force said in a statement.

“The members put up a brave fight to prevent the rebels from proceeding to Goma as was their intention,” it said, adding that the M23 had been pushed back.

The deaths follow an escalation in hostilities that also led to the killing of North Kivu’s military governor on the front line this week.

The situation appeared calm in Goma on Saturday with people tentatively going about their business amid a heavy police presence, Reuters reporters there said.

The Congolese government and army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of the fighting in the area.

The United Nations said on Saturday it had started temporarily relocating its non-essential staff from Goma due to the deteriorating security situation in the province.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS FLEE

Congo, the U.N. and others accuse neighbouring Rwanda of fuelling the conflict with its own troops and weapons. Rwanda denies this, but the surge in fighting has prompted renewed calls for it disengage.

“Rwanda must cease its support for the M23 and withdraw,” the European Union said in a statement on Saturday.

The Rwandan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The M23 briefly managed to take over Goma during a previous rebellion in 2012, prompting international donors to cut aid to Rwanda. Even then, the rebels did not hold as much ground as they do now.

The insecurity has also deepened eastern provinces’ already dire humanitarian situation with 400,000 more people forced to flee their homes this year alone, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

“The situation facing Goma’s civilians is becoming increasingly perilous and the humanitarian needs are enormous,” Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.

The U.N. Security Council is due to meet on Monday to discuss the crisis.