{"id":13651,"date":"2025-04-01T14:48:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T14:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/?p=13651"},"modified":"2025-04-26T20:14:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T20:14:04","slug":"13651","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/?p=13651","title":{"rendered":"Congo War Security Review<\/gwmw>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Congo War Security Review<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

A daily review of activity related to the war in the eastern DRC between M23 and its Rwandan backers and pro-Congolese government forces every Monday through Friday. Map shapefiles are available by request via email at criticalthreats@aei.org.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

17 hours ago<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data Cutoff: March 31, 2025, at 1 P.M. EST<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow CTP on <\/strong>Twitter<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>LinkedIn<\/strong><\/a>, and <\/strong>BlueSky<\/strong><\/a> for daily updates.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read CTP\u2019s latest analysis on the war in the eastern DRC in the weekly Africa File <\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a>. To receive the Africa File via email, please subscribe <\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Takeaway: <\/strong>Representatives from the DRC, Rwanda, and Rwandan-backed M23 participated in Qatari-mediated peace talks in Doha, Qatar\u2019s capital, but it remains unclear whether M23 participated in direct negotiations with the DRC government. The Ugandan army said that it is considering withdrawing its troops from Lubero town in northern North Kivu. M23 elements advanced from central South Kivu to link with M23-aligned rebels in southern South Kivu. M23 repelled numerous FARDC and Wazalendo attacks in Walikale town and the surrounding area in western North Kivu.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ugandan army (UPDF) said that it is considering withdrawing its troops from Lubero town in northern North Kivu. UPDF spokesperson Chris Magezi said on social media on March 30 that the UPDF could redeploy troops \u201cin the coming days\u201d from Lubero town to pursue Islamic State Central Africa Province militants\u2014known locally as Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)\u2014who have shifted their area of operations and \u201ctaken flight\u201d from northern North Kivu.[1]<\/a> The UPDF and the Congolese army (FARDC) have been conducting joint military operations against the ADF since 2021.[2]<\/a> Magezi\u2019s announcement came after FARDC and UPDF officials met on March 27 and 28 to significantly expand Operation Shujaa\u2019s area of operations into northern Ituri province to combat another rebel group\u2014Cooperative pour le developpement du Congo (CODECO).[3]<\/a> The UPDF has reportedly blocked M23\u2019s northward advance and attempts to flank FARDC positions in Lubero town since late February.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ORGANIZATIONM23M23 is a Rwandan-backed and Rwandan-controlled rebel group t…M23 elements advanced south from Uvira district in central South Kivu to the Fizi highlands in southern South Kivu and joined forces with M23-aligned rebels. Congolese media reported on March 31 that M23 elements arrived in Minembwe town in Fizi district, where M23-aligned Twirwaneho rebels have regularly clashed with pro-Congolese government Wazalendo militias since late February.[5]<\/a> The DRC interior minister claimed that there were members of the Rwandan army (RDF) among the M23 reinforcements.[6]<\/a> Twirwaneho is part of M23\u2019s wider political coalition, Alliance Fleuve Congo<\/em> (AFC), and the UN reported in December 2024 that Twirwaneho had ties to Rwanda and had become an \u201cAFC\/M23 proxy\u201d in South Kivu.[7]<\/a> M23 condemned FARDC bombing campaigns against Twirwaneho in late February and threatened to advance southward on Minembwe.[8]<\/a> M23 set conditions to infiltrate the Minembwe area when it temporarily captured the Kaziba chiefdom in southern Walungu district in early March, opening a route to the Minembwe area via forested paths in the Uvira and Fizi highlands.[9]<\/a> Burundian troops and pro-Congolese government militia fighters recaptured Kaziba chiefdom in late March, and independent Congolese journalist Byobe Malenga reported on March 30 that FARDC redeployed troops to Kaziba chiefdom in central South Kivu.[10]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

M23 repelled numerous FARDC and Wazalendo attacks in Walikale town and the surrounding area on the RN3 road in western North Kivu on March 30. The Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd <\/em>reported that Wazalendo militias attacked M23 positions in Walikale town but failed to dislodge the rebels from the town.[11]<\/a> The outlet reported that Wazalendo militias also attacked M23 positions four miles southeast and four miles northwest of the town but withdrew after clashing with the rebels.[12]<\/a> Pro-Congolese government forces began launching counterattacks to isolate Walikale town in late March and set conditions to retake the district capital after M23 initially captured it on March 20.[13]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing significant to report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major Political Developments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representatives from the DRC, Rwanda, and Rwandan-backed M23 participated in Qatari-mediated peace talks in Doha, Qatar\u2019s capital. Reuters reported that Qatar mediated a second round of discussions on March 30 between senior Congolese and Rwandan officials.[14]<\/a> DRC President F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame agreed to a ceasefire deal during an initial round of talks on March 18.[15]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of the parties have clarified if the DRC and M23 engaged in direct talks. French media had reported that M23 representatives\u2014including M23 \u201cPresident\u201d Bertrand Bisimwa\u2014have been participating in peace talks involving M23 rebels in Doha since March 27.[16]<\/a>\u00a0Reuters reported on March 28 that M23 representatives \u201cmet separately with Qatari mediators,\u201d citing both DRC and M23 officials.[17]<\/a>\u00a0The Congolese news outlet\u00a0Le Potentiel\u00a0<\/em>reported on March 31 that the DRC and M23 representatives\u2014 including Bisimwa and the Congolese foreign minister\u2014participated in direct discussions mediated by Qatar, however, and agreed to \u201ccontinue negotiations and establish a follow-up committee to ensure the continuity of dialogue.\u201d[18]<\/a>\u00a0The outlet reported that the DRC rejected M23\u2019s demands for reintegration into FARDC and that M23 requested security guarantees and an amnesty for M23 fighters and high-ranking officials before agreeing to withdraw from occupied areas.[19]<\/a>\u00a0The outlet said that Qatar\u2019s foreign ministry pledged to mediate future talks and would help facilitate the establishment of a \u201cneutral observer force\u201d to implement any conclusions.[20]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n

\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congo War Security Review A daily review of activity related to the war in the eastern DRC between M23 and its Rwandan backers and pro-Congolese government forces every Monday through Friday. Map shapefiles are available by request via email at criticalthreats@aei.org. 17 hours ago Data Cutoff: March 31, 2025, at 1 P.M. EST Follow CTP on Twitter, LinkedIn, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13651"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13663,"href":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13651\/revisions\/13663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/congokin.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}