With three neighbouring armies already on the ground, a conflict that has simmered in Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern borderlands for years is evolving into a wider regional war.
M23 rebels, in the latest of a string of uprisings backed by Rwanda, seized the city of Goma in January and went on to make gains across North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
The region has a history of outside interference. This time, Kinshasa has sought help from Burundi, which dispatched thousands of its troops to try to defeat the rebellion. The position of Uganda, officially in Congo to help the government fight against Islamist militants, is ambiguous as the U.N. has accused it of also backing the M23, which it denies. It has sent reinforcements over the border in recent weeks.
Congo’s government said at least 7,000 people have died in the fighting since January. At least 600,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since November, according to OCHA.
Several African armies joined the fray in Congo during wars of the 1990s and early 2000s and millions of people died, mainly from hunger and disease triggered by years of conflict and foreign occupation.
More than two decades later, the mechanisms used to end such conflicts — robust U.N. peacekeeping missions and decisive actions such as sanctions and aid cuts — are frayed.
Eastern Congo is home to vast reserves of strategic minerals such as coltan, cobalt, copper and lithium, resources that are central to the world’s race to develop new technology and green energy, so the stakes are even higher.
Foreign troop levels
Foreign armies involved in Congo’s previous wars withdrew after a 2003 peace deal. A U.N. peacekeeping mission, once the world’s largest, has been deployed for more than 20 years, tasked with helping contain flare-ups in fighting across the country.
Until recently, the most significant clashes were largely confined to isolated pockets of North Kivu province where Rwandan-backed, Tutsi-led rebels continued to operate.
Dormant for about a decade, M23 renewed its latest uprisings in 2022, making gains and escalating the risk of a full-blown regional war.
Here are the main foreign players:
Rwanda
Rwanda has sent between 7,000 – 12,000 soldiers to eastern Congo to support M23, analysts and diplomats told Reuters. Rwanda denies providing arms and troops to M23 and says its forces are acting in self defence.
Burundi
Until early February, Burundi had between 10,000 – 12,000 men fighting in eastern Congo on the side of government forces, analysts and diplomats told Reuters. But as of mid-February, numbers dropped to between 2,000 – 3,000, according to three sources.
Uganda
Uganda has had soldiers in eastern Congo helping Kinshasa fight Islamist militants since 2021. It recently sent reinforcements, upping troop numbers to 5,000 – 6,000. Uganda says the new troops will take on the CODECO militia group, but U.N. experts say Uganda has provided support to M23 while also working with Kinshasa.
UN peacekeepers
South Africa
Part of the U.N. force, South Africa also has about 1,200 troops in Congo as part of the Southern African bloc’s mission to Congo. The force comprises about 450 soldiers in Goma and 700-800 newcomers sent in February to reinforce the mission in parts of North Kivu and Lubumbashi, according to diplomatic and military sources.
Chad
Congo has asked Chad for military support, but no troops have been deployed, according to a Chadian army source and a government official.
Key figures
Felix Tshisekedi
President of Democratic Republic of Congo
Son of a veteran opposition leader, Tshisekedi has been in power since Congo’s first democratic transfer of power in 2019. Promising to turn the page on Congo’s turbulent past, Tshisekedi has isolated many former allies and lost more territory to rebels than previous leaders.
Son of a veteran opposition leader, Tshisekedi has been in power since Congo’s first democratic transfer of power in 2019. Promising to turn the page on Congo’s turbulent past, Tshisekedi has isolated many former allies and lost more territory to rebels than previous leaders.
Corneille Nangaa
Head of the AFC coalition, spearheaded by M23 rebels
Congo’s ex-election chief, Nangaa organised the widely criticised vote that brought Tshisekedi to power. He has since fallen out with the president and leads the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), a sprawling group of Congolese politicians and rebel groups.
Congo’s ex-election chief, Nangaa organised the widely criticised vote that brought Tshisekedi to power. He has since fallen out with the president and leads the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), a sprawling group of Congolese politicians and rebel groups.
Paul Kagame
President of Rwanda
A former guerrilla leader, Kagame has been at the heart of power in Rwanda since the country’s 1994 genocide. Kagame, who faces little opposition, says Rwanda will always do whatever is necessary to protect his country from rebels in Congo.
A former guerrilla leader, Kagame has been at the heart of power in Rwanda since the country’s 1994 genocide. Kagame, who faces little opposition, says Rwanda will always do whatever is necessary to protect his country from rebels in Congo.
Violent clashes
Conflict has periodically flared up in eastern Congo since the end of the last major war in 2003. While M23 is the most significant, eastern Congo is home to dozens of armed groups.
The recent bout of fighting escalated in December 2024, and clashes intensified as the M23 rebels moved closer to Goma, which they seized in late January. Soon after, M23 took the town of Bukavu, in South Kivu province, and the group has expanded operations in North Kivu.
M23 rebels say that they intend to seize power in Kinshasa, 1,600 km (1,000 miles) away. Experts say it is unlikely that they will march across the country, but their gains have triggered fears of a coup in the capital.
Mineral-rich east
The conflict in eastern Congo has brewed for years. This is mostly the consequence of Rwanda’s desire to project its influence over the border, as well as a range of grievances, including the security concerns of Congo’s Tutsi communities, tensions over land and complaints that previous peace deals were not implemented.
The region’s mineral wealth also plays a significant role, with armed groups tapping into the largely unregulated artisanal mining sector to make money.
For now, the fighting is far from the copper and cobalt mines in Congo’s southeast, where there are industrial mining operations run by the likes of China’s CMOC Group, the world’s biggest cobalt miner, and Eurasian Resources Group.
Major events
December 15, 2024
Peace process stalled
The presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda were due to meet on December 15 in Luanda, the capital of Angola, to continue talks on the peace process in eastern DRC, but the meeting was cancelled.
Their main disagreement concerned the fate of the M23 rebel group. Congo refused direct talks with the group, which Rwanda insisted on, while denying it was supporting the rebels.
January 21, 2025
M23 takes Minova
The M23 rebel group seized the eastern town of Minova, a main supply route for the provincial capital Goma and its first entry into South Kivu since the movement began in 2012. The fall of the town put Goma, around 40 km (25 miles) away, in the rebels’ sights.
January 27
M23 enters Goma
The rebel group marched into eastern Congo’s largest city Goma, in the worst escalation of a long-running conflict for more than a decade. Goma, a lakeside city of more than 2 million people, is a hub for displaced people and aid groups located on the border with Rwanda. It was last occupied by M23 in 2012.
February 14
M23 rebels take Kavumu airport
Rwanda-backed M23 fighters took control of Kavumu airport, a major military base and the largest airport in South Kivu. The airport is 40 km north of Bukavu, the second-largest city in eastern Congo. The next day, residents see Congolese troops retreating from Bukavu with their equipment.
February 16
The rebel group enters Bukavu
M23 rebels advanced into the centre of Bukavu, meeting little resistance from government troops, witnesses and the armed group said, as Congo accused Rwanda of ignoring calls for a ceasefire.
Leaders from eastern and southern Africa have scrambled to try to end the fighting. Clashes have continued despite their calls for a ceasefire and for the resumption of peace talks. Defence chiefs from the EAC and SADC regional blocs have suggested deploying a joint force but experts say this is unlikely to happen soon.
M23 rebels, armed and in uniform taking pictures in the centre of eastern Congo’s second-largest city, Bukavu, on February 16, 2025.