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

Members of the M23 rebel group gather at their position amid conflict between them and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, January 29, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Rwanda-backed rebels captured large parts of Goma, the biggest city in eastern Congo, including its airport, the United Nations said, as Rwanda’s President on Wednesday (January 29, 2025) joined calls for a ceasefire in the decades-long conflict amid mounting international pressure.

Much of Goma was calm after a day during which thousands of fleeing people hunkered down by roadsides as missiles flew overhead, and injured people streamed to overwhelmed hospitals.

While government forces still control pockets of Goma, residents who spoke to The Associated Press by phone on Tuesday (January 28, 2025) said that the M23 rebel group was in control of much of the city.

The M23 rebels, who said that they captured the city on Monday (January 27, 2025) after a weekslong advance, are one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo. The conflict escalated with the rebels’ advance into Goma, which left bodies on the streets and drove hundreds of thousands of already displaced people to flee once again.

After clashing with government forces, the rebels took control of the airport, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a briefing on Tuesday (January 28, 2025), warning of “risks of a breakdown of law and order in the city given the proliferation of weapons.”

Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on X that he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on “the need to ensure a ceasefire and address the root causes of the conflict once and for all.”

His government denies supporting M23, despite reports from U.N. experts who estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo. Rwanda has accused Congo of enlisting Hutu rebels and former militiamen whom it blames for the 1994 genocide.

“The East African Community, whose members include both Rwanda and Congo, are scheduled to discuss the conflict at a meeting on Wednesday (January 29, 2025). Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi won’t be able to participate in the virtual summit,” a spokesperson said, without providing further details.

Pope Francis called for the cessation of hostilities and the protection of civilians.

“We hope that all forms of violence against people and their property will cease as soon as possible (and) I invite local authorities and the international community to make every effort to resolve the conflict by peaceful means,” Francis said at his weekly general audience.

M23, made up primarily of ethnic Tutsis, has told the AP that it plans to set up an administration in the city so people can continue living normal lives and displaced people can return home.

Analysts have warned that securing a rebel withdrawal could be more difficult than in 2012 when M23 first captured Goma but withdrew after days. Murithi Mutiga, program director for Africa at the Crisis Group, said that the group has become more emboldened by Rwanda, which feels Congo is ignoring its interests in the region and which has accused Congo of failing to meet demands of previous peace agreements.

Internally displaced civilians from the camps in Munigi and Kibati, carry their belongings as they flee following the fight between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, January 26, 2025
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Rwandan-backed rebels captured the city of Goma in eastern Congo early Monday (January 27, 2025), according to a press release by the M23 rebel movement.

The city’s capture came following a 48-hour deadline imposed by the group for the Congolese army to surrender their weapons.

In the statement, the rebels urged residents of Goma to remain calm. There was no immediate comment from Congo’s government.

The rebels entered the outskirts of eastern Congo’s largest city, Goma, on Sunday (January 26, 2025), causing what the United Nations called “mass panic” among its 2 million people and leading Congo’s government to call it a “declaration of war.”

With the airport shut down and roads blocked in the vast region’s humanitarian and security hub, “we are trapped,” the U.N.‘s special representative for Congo told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

The M23 rebels’ offensive at the heart of the mineral-rich region threatens to dramatically worsen one of Africa’s longest wars and create further misery for what is already one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with millions of people displaced.

Congo, on late Saturday (January 25, 2025), broke off relations with Rwanda, which has denied backing the M23 despite evidence collected by U.N. experts and others. The surge of violence has killed at least 13 peacekeepers over the past week. And Congolese were again on the run.

The M23 has made significant territorial gains along Congo’s border with Rwanda in recent weeks, after months of regional attempts to make peace failed. On Sunday night, the rebels called on Congo’s army to surrender their arms and present themselves at a local stadium by 3 a.m. or they would take the city.

The Uruguayan army, who are in Goma serving with the U.N. peacekeeping mission, said in a statement on X late Sunday (January 26, 2025) that some Congolese soldiers have laid down their weapons.

“More than a hundred FARDC soldiers are sheltered in the facilities of the “Siempre Presente” base awaiting the (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration) process,” the statement said.

In photos shared with the statement, armed men are seen registering with the peacekeepers in a mix of military uniforms and civilian clothing.

Congo’s foreign minister, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, told the Security Council that Rwanda was committing “a frontal aggression, a declaration of war which no longer hides itself behind diplomatic maneuvers.”

Rwanda’s ambassador to the U.N., Ernest Rwamucyo, did not confirm or deny Congo’s claims. He blamed Congo’s government, saying the crisis could have been been averted if it had “demonstrated a genuine commitment to peace.”

The United States and France called for a ceasefire and appealed to Rwanda to withdraw its support to M23, with acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea warning that the U.S. would “consider all the tools at its disposal” to hold accountable those responsible for sustaining the armed conflict.

Rwanda’s government denies backing the rebels, but last year acknowledged that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border. U.N. experts estimate up to 4,000 Rwandan forces are in Congo.

The story so far: Renewed clashes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have triggered global alarm and exacerbated the already dire humanitarian crisis in the region.

Over the past few weeks, many have died and hundreds of thousands displaced after the fighting between the Congolese army and Rwandan-backed M23 group escalated around the town of Sake near Goma — the capital city of the mineral-rich North Kivu province. On March 6, rebels reportedly seized the town of Nyanzale near Goma, following attacks that killed at least 10 and displaced many.

The growing tensions between Congo and Rwanda, which has been accused of supporting the rebels, have not only increased the risk of an all-out conflict but also pose a threat to food security for millions. The United States has appealed to both countries to “step back from the brink of war” while asking Rwanda to immediately withdraw its defence personnel from the DRC and remove its surface-to-air missile systems. The United Nations and several Western countries have also denounced the attacks and called on the M23 rebels to cease their offensive.

Notably, the spike in hostilities in a decades-long war comes as the United Nations begins the gradual withdrawal of its peacekeepers from the eastern South Kivu province as per a predetermined disengagement plan, and after recent devastating floods left more than two million people in need of humanitarian aid.

Also Read | Rwanda Army using surface-to-air missiles in east DR Congo, says UN

What is the conflict?

An unending cycle of violence has engulfed the eastern region of the central African country for decades, with the conflict originating in two civil wars in the 1990s. In 1994, an estimated eight lakh minority ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates were killed by extremist Hutus in 100 days, in what is now known as the Rwandan genocide. At the time, Hutus made up roughly 85% of Rwanda’s population.

In the subsequent days, around two million people crossed the Congolese border (then known as Zaire) to settle in refugee camps in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu as a Tutsi government gained control of Rwanda. Former Rwandan government soldiers who had participated in the genocide used these camps to re-arm themselves to take back power. A small subset of these refugees included Hutu extremists who organised militias within Congo.

Tutsi militias also banded together to fight extremist Hutus as tensions heightened between local Congolese and Rwandan emigrants. Over half of Rwanda’s population of seven million was directly affected by the crisis. The ethnic tensions, worsening living and economic conditions, and health crisis in camps further set the stage for the First Congo War between the Zairean soldiers on one hand and the Tutsi militia and the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL) on the other, with the backing of Rwanda and Uganda which wanted to root out the remaining perpetrators of the genocide. In 1997, the AFDL captured the capital Kinshasa and Zaire was renamed as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Another deadly war followed in 1998 after the new regime ordered Rwandan refugees and troops to leave the country. It feared that Rwanda would join forces with Uganda and annex the mineral-rich territory. The war that followed involved multiple foreign armies and militant groups, and was dubbed ‘Africa’s world war.’ A new Rwanda-backed rebel group, the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), began invading parts of Congo and taking control of towns. In response, the Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila allowed armed Hutu refugees to organise in the east to fight against Rwanda. One of his aides, in a radio broadcast message said, “ …it should be stressed that people must bring a machete, a spear, an arrow, a hoe, spades, rakes, nails, truncheons, electric irons, barbed wire, stones, and the like, in order, dear listeners, to kill the Rwandan Tutsis…”

Since then, several agreements have been signed to put an end to what has been called one of the world’s deadliest conflicts since the Second World War, but fighting has continued. Territorial and resource-related conflicts involving militant groups, extrajudicial killings by security forces and escalating tensions with neighbouring countries have resulted in a humanitarian crisis with nearly six million people killed since the outbreak of the first war and around 6.5 million internally displaced in the eastern region.

Who are the M23 rebels, and what do they want?

The March 23 Movement, or M23, is one of 120 insurgent groups active in the eastern region of Congo, which claims to be fighting to defend Tutsi interests against ethnic Hutu militias.

The group was formed in 2012 and takes its name from a 2009 ceasefire agreement signed by the DRC government with the Tutsi-led National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), another rebel group active since the Second Congo War, which also fought the government between 2006 and 2009. As part of the pact, the political unit of the group was to become a recognised political party while its fighters were to join the Congolese army. 

However, several CNDP soldiers broke away from the Congolese army in 2012 and formed the M23 group with its main base in North Kivu province. They accused the government of not fulfilling the agreement to fully integrate Congolese Tutsis into the army or administration. Later that year, the Tutsi-led group launched a major offensive and took over Goma and other towns near the Rwandan border.

The rebellion ended in 2013 following a peace deal brokered by international players, but reemerged in 2022. In a new offensive across the North Kivu province, the group launched a series of attacks to seize eastern Congo. The M23 said the action was in response to attacks against them by the Hutu-led Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (DFLR) which it said was working in collaboration with the Congolese army.

Over the past month, the M23 rebels have ramped up attacks to close in on Goma, an economic hub, after attacking Sake, which is 25 kilometres from the city. The group blocked off the main roads, forcing thousands to flee the area due to continuous fighting and indiscriminate bombing. The fighting has worsened the humanitarian crises, with the city now hosting nearly two million people fleeing violence in nearby areas, up from a population of only six lakhs a few years ago.

According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, 1,35,000 people were displaced in just five days in early February. The latest revolt has also sparked protests in the country, with people demanding that the international community pressurise Rwanda to withdraw its support to the rebels.  

Tensions between Rwanda and Congo

The worsening violence has led to an escalation in tensions between the DRC and Rwanda, with Congo accusing the latter of backing M23 rebels, including support in the form of funds, troops and arms. Rwanda has repeatedly denied these allegations, despite a United Nations report supporting Congo’s claims.

Rwanda has claimed the escalation is due to Congo’s decision to send back regional peacekeepers. The country has reportedly been battling local militia groups near its border to protect its national security.

In the past few days, Rwanda has come under intense pressure from the international community. The U.S. Department of State has “strongly condemned” the worsening violence in the eastern region “caused by the actions of the Rwanda-backed, U.S. and U.N.-sanctioned” M23 group. “The United States condemns Rwanda’s support for the M23 armed group and calls on Rwanda to immediately withdraw all Rwanda Defense Force personnel from the DRC and remove its surface-to-air missile systems, which threaten the lives of civilians, UN and other regional peacekeepers, humanitarian actors, and commercial flights in eastern DRC,” it said in a statement on February 17.

France has also called on Rwanda to end support for M23 rebels.

The new fighting could lead to an escalation of regional tensions and involve more countries. There’s also the humanitarian cost. The International NGO Forum in Congo, a group of non-governmental organisations working in the region, said the escalation in fighting has involved artillery attacks on civilian settlements, causing a heavy toll and forcing many health and aid workers to withdraw.

There are concerns a new disaster could largely go unnoticed because of the attention on the war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.