AFRICA/DR CONGO - In North Kivu: heavy fighting between the army and the M23

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - More than 290,000 people were forced to flee in December due to fighting in the Lubero region of North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is what the latest report of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) shows. These people are in addition to those already previously displaced from various areas in North Kivu. According to OCHA, the total number of displaced people in the Congolese province is 2.7 million.
According to the report, “the humanitarian situation in the Lubero region of North Kivu continued to deteriorate in December 2024 due to ongoing armed clashes linked to the activities of the M23 rebel movement. The resumption of armed attacks by the rebel group ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) against the civilian population has exacerbated the vulnerability of the already weakened and repeatedly displaced population. In southern Lubero, ongoing fighting between the FARDC and the M23 has displaced more than 290,000 people in the north, northeast, northwest and south of the area."
The two rebel groups referred to in the report have different origins. The ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) is a Ugandan rebel group that has long established itself in North Kivu and Ituri and terrorizes the local population. In 2019, the ADF announced its affiliation with the Islamic State, underlining its Islamist orientation (see Fides, 24/6/2023).
The M23 is a group supported by Rwanda with weapons and its own soldiers, according to the report of the UN group of experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo of December 27, which documents the decisive support of Rwandan troops to the Congolese armed rebel movement and the equipment of "high-tech" weapons and intelligence in the continuation of its territorial conquests in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Since the beginning of the year, fighting in the province has intensified, also in the context of the failure of the peace talks in Luanda (Angola) in mid-December (see Fides, 16/12/2024). In particular, it concerns the control of Masisi, the capital of the homonymous territory, which has changed hands three times in recent days between the M23 and the soldiers of the Congolese army, supported by pro-government "Wazalendo" militias. While the city is back in government hands, the rebels control the hills above the city, from which they can launch new attacks. The regular army and pro-government militiamen are now trying to regain control of the hills to secure the city.
The city of Masisi is 80 km from the capital of North Kivu, Goma, which has been surrounded by M23 forces for months. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 10/1/2025)

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