Congo War Security Review

Data Cutoff: October 1, 2025, at 1 P.M. EST 

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Read CTP’s latest analysis on the war in the eastern DRC in the weekly Africa File here.   

Key Takeaway: The Congolese government convicted former DRC President Joseph Kabila on charges of treason. Representatives from the Congolese and Rwandan governments met to finalize the US-backed regional economic framework. The Congolese army expanded its counteroffensive on M23-controlled Nzibira in South Kivu. M23 has cracked down on corruption in the group’s leadership in recent weeks.

Kinetic Activity in Rutshuru & Eastern Masisi Districts 

M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters in Rutshuru district in North Kivu. Independent Congolese journalist Daniel Michombero reported that M23 clashed with Wazalendo fighters in Kashalira village in the Mutanda group in Bwito chiefdom in Rutshuru on September 30.[i] Kashalira is about eight miles south of Kibirzi on the edge of the Virunga National Park on a local road.

Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia 

Nothing significant to report. 

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie  

M23 conducted a cordon and search operation in Bukavu in South Kivu. M23 conducted the operation in several areas in the Ibanda commune in central Bukavu on September 30.[ii] The group said that it arrested about twenty people and confiscated weapons after reportedly screening hundreds of residents in the operation.[iii]

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani 

Nothing significant to report.

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu 

The Congolese army (FARDC) expanded its counteroffensive on M23-controlled Nzibira in South Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Radio Okapi reported that the FARDC conducted drone strikes on at least five M23 positions around Nzibira in southern Walungu district on September 29.[iv] The outlet reported that the FARDC and pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters established defensive positions in three locations around Nzibira about 12 miles from the frontlines.[v] The FARDC had conducted an initial round of drone strikes on M23 positions in Nzibira on September 27.[vi]

Major Political Developments 

The Congolese government convicted former DRC President Joseph Kabila on charges of treason. The top Congolese military court handed down the conviction with a death penalty sentence and an arrest warrant in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, on September 30.[vii] The court tried Kabila in absentia and without a defense and found him guilty of treason—among other charges—for his alleged ties to M23. The court said that it would not confiscate Kabila’s assets but claimed nearly $50 billion in total damages.[viii] Kabila’s camp denounced the conviction and said that it represented a “clear intention” to “eliminate” the former president.[ix] M23 officials also denounced the conviction and said that M23 will address the issue “on the negotiating table” in Qatari-brokered peace talks with the Congolese government.[x]

Representatives from the Congolese and Rwandan governments met to finalize the US-backed regional economic framework. Massad Boulos, US President Trump’s Africa advisor, hosted delegations from both sides for the final round of negotiations on the framework on September 30.[xi] The economic aspects of the framework center around regional economic cooperation in sectors including energy, infrastructure, mining, national park management and tourism, and public health.[xii]

M23 has cracked down on corruption in the group’s leadership in recent weeks. The French investigative outlet Africa Intelligence reported on October 1 that Sultani Makenga, M23’s military chief, has sanctioned several senior leadership figures suspected of looting and embezzlement in recent weeks.[xiii] The outlet reported that Makenga targeted and imprisoned “high-ranking officers” and even his own family members in M23 as part of the crackdown.[xiv]