Congo War Security Review

Data Cutoff: September 17, 2025, at 1 P.M. EST

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Key Takeaway: M23 staged a public ceremony displaying nearly 7,500 new military recruits. M23 captured several villages as part of its ongoing offensive in north-central Masisi district in North Kivu. The Congolese army and Wazalendo fighters recaptured a key town on the RP1030 in Masisi from M23. M23 held a judicial entrance exam with over 500 applicants. M23 repelled pro-Congolese government Wazalendo attacks in Rutshuru district in North Kivu.

Kinetic Activity in Rutshuru & Eastern Masisi Districts

M23 repelled pro-Congolese government Wazalendo attacks in Rutshuru district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Kivu Morning Post reported that M23 repelled the attacks in three villages near the Bukombo group capital, including Kashavu, in the Bwito chiefdom in Rutshuru on September 17.[i] Kashavu is about three miles east of Bukombo town on a local road. M23 had repelled previous Wazalendo attacks in Bukombo group to the west of Bukombo town last week.[ii]

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

Nothing significant to report.

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

M23 captured several villages as part of its ongoing offensive in north-central Masisi district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd reported that M23 clashed with Wazalendo fighters in Birihi and Hembe villages in a remote area in the Bashali Mokoto group in Bashali chiefdom on September 14.[iii] Hembe is about a mile north of Bibwe, which M23 had captured on September 10—roughly 15 miles southeast of Pinga on the RP1030 via local road.[iv] Actualite.cd reported that M23 captured Ndurumo and Kinyaongo villages in Bashali Mokoto, about seven miles south of Lukweti village on a local road, from Wazalendo fighters on September 15.[v] Kivu Morning Post reported that M23 captured three villages east of Lukweti, including Muundu, from Wazalendos who retreated to Lukweti on September 15 and September 16.[vi]

The Congolese army (FARDC) and Wazalendo fighters recaptured a key town on the RP1030 in Masisi from M23. Actualite.cd reported that the FARDC and Wazalendo recaptured Katobi village on the RP1030 on September 15.[vii] Katobi is about nine miles east of Pinga, a military and logistic hub in the region, on the RP1030. The outlet reported that M23 withdrew about a mile east of Katobi to Mpeti on the RP1030.[viii]

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu

Nothing significant to report.

Major Political Developments

M23 staged a public ceremony displaying nearly 7,500 new military recruits. The group held a graduation ceremony for 7,437 recruits at its main military base in Rumangabo, Rutshuru district, on September 14.[ix] M23 said that fighters were new recruits and former FARDC troops—including former “elite corps” members—and Wazalendo fighters that surrendered to M23 during M23’s capture of Goma and Bukavu in early 2025.[x] Some of the recruits may have formed a new M23 brigade.[xi] Corneille Nangaa, the M23 political head, said that M23 will not stop its military campaign and reaffirmed that the FARDC “will be integrated into M23 and not the other way around” in a speech during the ceremony.[xii] M23 claimed that the group is training 12,000 additional recruits who will enter service soon.[xiii]

M23 held a judicial entrance exam with over 500 applicants. M23 held the exam in Goma for lawyers and judicial advocates for magistrate positions on September 14.[xiv] M23 claimed that over 500 applicants took the test from “all 26 provinces.”[xv] The group said that the exam is part of M23’s effort to establish a parallel judicial system in areas that it controls.[xvi]

M23 established a new justice commission in North Kivu. Bahati Musanga, the M23-appointed North Kivu governor, appointed seven members to the Pacification and Conflict Resolution Commission in a decree on September 8.[xvii]