Congo War Security Review

Data Cutoff: June 20, 2025, at 1 P.M. EST

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Key Takeaway: Technical teams from the DRC and Rwanda approved the US-brokered peace agreement ahead of a signing ceremony with foreign ministers next week. Turkey and the United Arab Emirates recently supplied the Congolese army with attack drones and armored vehicles. M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters in several villages near the Masisi district capital in North Kivu.

Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia

Nothing significant to report.

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

Nothing significant to report.

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters in several villages near the Masisi district capital in North Kivu. The Congolese news outlet Tazama RDC reported on social media that M23 clashed with Wazalendos in several villages, including in Kishonja and Kihuma—roughly 5 miles southwest of Masisi town on a local road— on June 19 and June 20.[i]

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu

Nothing significant to report.

Major Political Developments

Technical teams from the DRC and Rwanda approved the US-brokered peace agreement ahead of a signing ceremony with foreign ministers next week. The technical teams signed the draft  agreement after three days of US-mediated talks focused on “political, security, and economic interests” in Washington DC on June 18.[ii] US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to host the Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers for a signing ceremony in Washington DC on June 27.[iii] A heads of state summit to finalize the agreement between the DRC, Rwanda, and the US could occur in July.[iv]

The peace agreement contains five main provisions. The first provision includes the “respect for territorial integrity” and the “prohibition of hostilities.”[v] The second point concerns the disarmament, demobilization, and “conditional integration” of militia groups, presumably in the eastern DRC.[vi] The readout said that Qatar, who is mediating DRC-M23 talks, played a role in the US-led talks to “ensure complementarity and alignment” with the two initiatives.[vii] French state media reported on June 18 that Qatar aims to consolidate a draft agreement between the DRC and M23 as part of the overarching US-led peace framework by mid-July.[viii] The third provision includes a joint security mechanism, reportedly to be established within 30 days, in line with a previous plan under Angolan mediation in late 2024.[ix] The fourth item relates to refugee returns and humanitarian access.[x] The fifth provision details a “regional economic integration framework.”[xi]

Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently supplied the Congolese army (FARDC) with attack drones and armored vehicles. The French investigative outlet Africa Intelligence reported on June 20 that the FARDC received four Turkish-produced Bayraktar TB2 attack drones in recent weeks.[xii] Africa Intelligence reported on June 19 that an Emirati defense company plans to supply more than a hundred Emirati-produced Kasser II armored vehicles to the FARDC as part of a UAE-DRC defense contract signed in November 2024. [xiii] The outlet said that the deliveries began in January 2025 and that the newest batch came through the port of Matadi near Kinshasa, the DRC capital, in early May.[xiv] The outlet reported that the FARDC plans to use the vehicles against M23 and has already deployed fifty of them to Kisangani and Kindu in central DRC—two major FARDC logistics hubs and potential M23 military targets in a westward offensive. [xv]