Congo War Security Review, May 1, 2026

Data Cutoff: April 24, 2026, at 1 P.M. EST

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Key Takeaway: The DRC, Rwanda, and observer nations convened for the fifth Joint Oversight Committee (JOC) meeting in the United States. The Congolese government and M23 held a ninth round of peace talks in Switzerland last week. Pro-Congolese government forces clashed with M23-aligned militia fighters around Minembwe town in the South Kivu highlands. M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government forces in southern Masisi district in North Kivu.

Kinetic Activity in M23-Controlled Areas    

M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government militia fighters in Rutshuru district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Kivu Morning Post reported that M23 clashed with suspected fighters from the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) in two villages near Kibirizi in the northeastern part of the Bwito chiefdom in Rutshuru on April 17.[1] Kibirizi is near the edge of Virunga National Park and roughly 10 miles south of the Rwindi airport on the RN2. Kivu Morning Post reported that M23 launched military operations against the FDLR, as the militants were charging locals for access to areas near Kibirizi in the form of “tokens.”[2] The outlet reported separately that suspected FDLR militants conducted an incursion in Kibirizi on April 21.[3]

Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia  

Nothing significant to report.  

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

Pro-Congolese government forces clashed with M23-aligned militia fighters around Minembwe town in the South Kivu highlands. M23-aligned media sources reported that the Congolese army (FARDC) supported by pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters and the Burundian army (FDNB) clashed with M23-aligned Twirwaneho fighters in at least two areas near Minembwe town in Fizi district on April 17.[4] Twirwaneho claimed in a statement on social media on April 19 that the FDNB has deployed about 800 additional troops to the Minembwe area in recent days.[5] CTP reported in mid-April that the FDNB had deployed significant reinforcements to Baraka town in South Kivu via the Rumonge port on Lake Tanganyika in southwestern Burundi.[6] Pro-Congolese government forces reportedly conducted drone strikes on three villages near Minembwe, including Mikenge and Point Zéro—a hilltop roughly 15 miles east of Minembwe that controls access to the lowlands toward Lake Tanganyika—on April 19.[7] Mikenge is about 15 miles north of Minmebwe on the RP527. Clashes reportedly took place in Mikenge on April 20, and M23 and M23-aligned media sources accused pro-Congolese government forces of using one-way attack (OWA) drones to target its positions in Mikenge and two villages closer to Minembwe.[8] The M23-aligned investigative outlet Great Lakes Eye reported that the FARDC sent a team from Uvira town to the front line near Mikenge and Point Zéro to “distribute special bonuses” to coalition fighters on April 19.[9] Congolese government-aligned media sources claimed that the Rwandan army (RDF) conducted several air attacks on civilians around Minembwe using Turkish-made TB2 drones deployed from Rwanda and deployed a helicopter to the area on April 19–20 and 22.[10] The FARDC then reportedly conducted drones attacks on Minembwe center on April 22.[11]

The Congolese government accused the RDF of establishing a military base in Kabare district in South Kivu. The DRC-appointed South Kivu provincial government accused the RDF on April 18 of recently deploying elements from Rwanda to build a military camp in Mumosho, which is about 10 miles south of M23-controlled Bukavu on the RN5 in Kabare.[12]

Wazalendo fighters reportedly clashed with M23 in northern Kalehe district in South Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Radio Maendeleo reported that Wazalendo fighters clashed with M23 in three villages, including Chambombo, in northern Kalehe near the border with North Kivu on April 18.[13] The two sides have clashed regularly in this part of South Kivu since late March.[14]

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani 

M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government forces in southern Masisi district in North Kivu. The two sides reportedly clashed in Mitimingi village in the Katoyi sector in southern Masisi on April 19 and 20.[15] Mitimingi is in a remote area in Katoyi, about 26 miles southwest of Rubaya on local roads. Congolese media reported that Wazalendo fighters accused M23 of capturing a nearby village and advancing toward Mitimigi around April 19, before Wazalendo fighters conducted counterattacks and the FARDC targeted M23 positions using attack drones around Mitimingi on April 20.[16] The Congolese media outlet Radio Okapi reported that M23 had taken control of the village by April 21 after two days of fighting, however.[17] The fighting reportedly caused significant population displacements in this part of Katoyi.[18]

The FARDC reportedly conducted an airstrike on M23 on the RP529 in Walikale district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd reported that the FARDC conducted an airstrike on an M23 position in Kibati village on the RP529—about 21 miles west of Nyabiondo town in Masisi district—on April 21.[19]

M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government forces north of the RP1030 in Walikale district. The Congolese government-aligned media outlet Tazama RDC reported on social media that M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government forces in a village near Ihula village in the Kisimba group in Walikale district on April 19.[20] Ihula is in a remote area north of Kalembe on the RP1030 and about 19 miles east of Mpeti. Actualite.cd reported that the two sides clashed again in Kisimba on April 21 and 22, when M23 bombed DRC coalition positions in two remote villages north of the RP1030 near Malemo.[21]

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu  

Nothing significant to report.  

Major Political Developments  

The DRC, Rwanda, and observer nations convened for the fifth Joint Oversight Committee (JOC) meeting in the United States. Representatives from the DRC and Rwanda, along with the African Union, Qatar, and the United States, met in Washington, DC, for the fifth JOC meeting on April 23.[22] The readout said that the JOC assessed the implementation of the US-brokered peace agreement from June 2025.[23] The readout said that the DRC and Rwanda presented updates on their efforts to “de-escalate tensions and advance progress on the ground” that they had agreed to in US-hosted meetings in mid-March 2026.[24] The readout also said that the parties expressed a commitment to “maintain momentum in the peace process and continue to build on the progress achieved.”[25] The last JOC meeting had taken place in early November 2025.[26]

The Congolese government and M23 held a ninth round of peace talks in Switzerland last week. The two sides convened for peace talks under the framework of the Doha process near Montreux, Switzerland, between April 13 and 17.[27] The DRC and M23, along with the African Union, Qatar, Switzerland, and the United States, released a joint statement that said that the two parties made “substantial progress” on resolving the third pillar of the Qatari-brokered peace framework agreement from November 2025—humanitarian access and judicial protection.[28] The two sides signed two new technical agreements and agreed to a series of humanitarian obligations in the spirit of the pillar, though no formal agreement materialized.[29] The Congolese government and M23 agreed to expedite negotiations on the remaining five pillars in future talks.[30]

Several disagreements blocked progress in the ninth round. M23 reportedly refused to reopen the Goma airport over security concerns and in the absence of a blanket prisoner release, while the Congolese government refused to lift its banking restrictions on M23-controlled areas.[31] The Congolese government refused M23’s demand that it lift death sentences on some of M23’s members and drop formal charges against others.[32] Independent French journalist Christophe Rigaud reported on April 19 that M23 conditioned reopening the airport on a broader prisoner swap and the lifting of criminal convictions on its members.[33] French state media reported on April 18 that M23 also demanded that the Congolese government return personal assets belonging to some of its leaders that the government had seized.[34] The Congolese government had also reportedly refused to renew expired passports to facilitate travel for senior M23 leaders.[35]

The two sides signed new technical agreements to help implement the first two pillars. The two parties, along with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to operationalize and add M23 officers to the Ceasefire Oversight and Verification Mechanism (COVM) under the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism Plus (EJVM+).[36] The ICGLR committed to discuss and start planning the first verification mission for the COVM by April 24.[37] The DRC and M23 also signed a prisoner transfer MOU in line with the prisoner exchange agreement from September 2025.[38] M23 deputy spokesperson Oscar Balinda told the Rwandan media outlet The New Times that the Congolese government is expected to release around 300 M23 prisoners, while M23 will release over 150 government prisoners.[39] M23 had originally demanded the release of 700 prisoners.[40] The Belgian media outlet La Libre Afrique reported on April 16 that roughly 300 M23 prisoners remain unaccounted for by the Congolese government.[41] The two sides agreed to release the prisoners in line with the latest MOU by April 26.[42] Rigaud reported on social media on April 23 that M23 requested to conduct the handover in Uganda near the border with North Kivu, while the Congolese government prefers Beni town.[43]

The Congolese government and M23 traded accusations of violating a ceasefire. M23 president Bertrand Bisimwa denounced the Congolese government for conducting attacks on the ground while negotiating with the group in Switzerland in a statement on April 14.[44] M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka accused the DRC coalition of bombing several villages around Minembwe town in South Kivu in violation of a ceasefire on April 15.[45] Kanyuka accused the DRC coalition of conducting attacks on several villages in Kalehe district in South Kivu on April 17.[46] The FARDC accused M23 and the RDF of bombing its forces and civilians in several villages around Minembwe in a statement on April 18.[47] Kanyuka accused the DRC coalition of shelling Mitimingi and using a Chinese-made CH-4 medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) drone on its positions in southern Masisi district in North Kivu on April 19.[48] Kanyuka accused the DRC of bombing areas around Minembwe using OWA drones and conducting attacks in southern Masisi district on April 20.[49] Kanyuka accused the DRC coalition of conducting a drone strike on its positions using a CH-4 MALE drone in Kibati in Walikale distict on April 21.[50]

The head of the UN force in the DRC met with M23 officials in Goma. James Swan, the new head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), traveled to Goma to meet with senior M23 officials, including Corneille Nangaa, M23’s political head, on April 24.[51] M23 issued Swan a visa before he met with Nangaa.[52] Swan said that he went to Goma to meet with M23 to discuss preparations for ceasefire monitoring.[53] Nangaa said that M23’s agenda for the meeting was to discuss the security and humanitarian situation in Uvira, the Congolese government’s closure of banks in areas that M23 controls, and the humanitarian blockade in the midlands and highlands in South Kivu.[54]

M23 claimed that it trained nearly 400 new parallel administration officials. M23 announced on April 23 that it finished training for what the group claimed was 395 political and administrative cadres at a training center in Rutshuru district.[55] M23’s operational commander, Sultani Makenga, presided over the graduation ceremony.[56]

Officials in South Kivu’s provincial assembly moved to censure the DRC-appointed governor of South Kivu. Eighteen deputies in South Kivu’s provincial assembly filed a motion of censure against South Kivu Governor Jean-Jacques Purusi on April 21.[57] A member of parliament from Mwenga district in the Congolese president’s ruling coalition filed the petition.[58] The deputies accused Purusi of poor governance, sympathizing with M23, and embezzling public funds and stealing gold bars, among other allegations.[59] Purusi has been governor of South Kivu since June 2024.

Burundi began repatriating hundreds of Congolese refugees that had fled to Burundi in late 2025. The Burundian government in collaboration with the UN voluntary repatriated around 470 Congolese refugees held at the Busuma camp in eastern Burundi to South Kivu via the Kavimrira border post on April 23.[60] The refugees had fled from South Kivu in December 2025, when M23 conducted a large-scale offensive on Uvira town with RDF support.[61] The UN has said that at least 33,000 refugees have returned to the DRC from Burundi as of March 2026.[62]

Significant US-Backed Regional Economic Activity

A US-backed mining firm announced plans to restart mining operations in the southern DRC in early 2027. A union executive told Reuters on April 22 that US-based firm Virtus Minerals plans to restart production at the copper and cobalt miner Chemaf in January 2027.[63] DRC state mining company Gécamines had approved the sale of Chemaf to a consortium led by Virtus Minerals in a landmark deal under the US-DRC strategic partnership agreement in mid-March 2026.[64] Virtus Minerals then announced in early April that it secured regulatory approval from the Congolese government to restart production.[65]

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