Congo War Security Review

Data Cutoff: February 18, 2026, at 2 P.M. EST

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Key Takeaway: The Congolese government and M23 are reportedly set to resume Qatari-mediated peace talks soon. Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye assumed the honorary presidency of the African Union. The Congolese army and allied forces clashed with M23-aligned militia fighters around Minembwe town in the South Kivu highlands. The Congolese government included the M23-controlled Rubaya mine in North Kivu in the list of strategic mineral assets to be developed in cooperation with the United States.

Kinetic Activity in M23-Controlled Areas    

M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government forces in Rutshuru district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Radio Okapi reported that Wazalendo fighters and militants from the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) conducted incursions and clashed with M23 in Kibirizi and Bambo villages near the Virunga National Park in the Bwito chiefdom in Rutshuru on February 16.[1] Bambo is about 30 miles east of Mweso village on a local road, while Kibirizi is roughly 10 miles south of the Rwindi airport near the RN2. Unidentified militants set fire to a vehicle that was reportedly transporting goods for M23 in Bambo.[2] Suspected FDLR militants and Wazalendo fighters regularly conduct incursions in M23-controlled areas in this part of Bwito. Suspected FDLR militants had reportedly attacked M23 in an incursion on Kibirizi on February 8.[3]

Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia  

Nothing significant to report.  

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

The Congolese army (FARDC) and allied forces clashed with M23-aligned militia fighters around Minembwe town in the South Kivu highlands. Pro-Congolese government forces had launched an offensive last week and retaken control of several villages near Minembwe town in Fizi district on February 11.[4] The FARDC claimed on February 14 that M23 and Twirwaneho fighters purposely set fire to civilian homes around Minembwe to “punish the local population who refused to be deported and follow them” on February 11.[5] Twirwaneho denied the FARDC’s claim on February 18.[6] The FARDC denied claims that circulated on social media on February 15 that Twirwaneho recaptured Point Zéro village east of Minembwe.[7] M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka claimed in a statement on social media that the FARDC launched “coordinated and aggressive attacks” on civilians around Minembwe on February 16.[8] The FARDC and allied forces reportedly clashed with Twirwaneho in numerous villages around Minembwe on February 17 and 18.[9] The Congolese media outlet Kivu Morning Post reported that the FARDC reinforced its positions and conducted attacks on Twirwaneho using attack drones and helicopters around Minembwe in an offensive on February 18.[10]

M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government forces in the midlands west of the Ruzizi Plain in South Kivu. Independent Congolese journalist Daniel Michombero reported that the FARDC repelled an M23 attack in Kigoma group in the Bafuliru chiefdom, which is about three miles west of Sange on the RN5 in the Ruzizi Plain, and pushed the fighters back northwest toward the Lemera group in Bafuliru on February 18.[11] The two sides had reportedly clashed the day prior in both groups on February 17.[12]

The Congolese government accused M23 of looting road construction materials north of Bukavu in Kabare district in South Kivu. The Kinshasa-appointed South Kivu governor accused M23 of looting raw materials for asphalt at a Chinese compound in the Mudaka group, about 12 miles north of Bukavu center in Kabare on the RN2, on February 15.[13] The Congolese government made similar accusations that M23 looted road construction materials when it withdrew from Uvira town in mid-January.[14] The Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd reported that M23 recently established a roadblock in Tshivanga village, about five miles west of the Kavumu airport on the RN2 in Kabare, and is collecting taxes on motorcyclists.[15] The report said that Wazalendo fighters also set up a roadblock at the entrance to the Kahuzi-Biega National Park.[16]

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

Nothing significant to report.

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu  

Nothing significant to report.  

Major Political Developments  

The Congolese government and M23 are reportedly set to resume Qatari-mediated peace talks soon. The M23-aligned Congolese journalist Steve Wembi reported on February 16 that the two sides will resume negotiations on the remaining six pillars of the November 2025 peace framework agreement soon.[17] The two sides had signed a terms of reference agreement for the UN-supported ceasefire verification and monitoring mechanism—one of the two pillars that they had already agreed to but have yet to operationalize—in early February.[18] The acting head of the UN force in the DRC visited M23-controlled Goma to begin preparations for ceasefire monitoring on February 12 and 13.[19]

Angolan President João Lourenço has tried to broker ceasefire commitments from both sides, but his role and the initiative’s relation to the Doha process is unclear. DRC President Félix Tshisekedi had agreed in principle to a ceasefire with M23 that Lourenço proposed would take effect on February 18, following a meeting that Lourenço hosted in Angola that included the two presidents and the AU mediators, Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé and former Nigerian head of state Olusegun Obasanjo, on February 9.[20] M23 did not participate in the meeting. Tshisekedi said that the ceasefire would fall under the framework of the ceasefire verification mechanism agreement.[21] Massad Boulos, US President Donald Trump’s Africa adviser, saluted Tshisekedi’s statement and encouraged all parties to operationalize the ceasefire mechanism in a statement on February 13.[22] The Rwandan foreign minister and Corneille Nangaa, M23’s political head, had criticized the Angolan proposal in statements on social media on February 12 and 13, respectively, however.[23] Benjamin Mbonimpa and Oscar Balinda, M23’s respective executive secretary and deputy spokesman, said on February 13 that M23 was “not informed” of the initiative and that the group is solely committed to the Doha process.[24] Balinda reiterated to the Rwandan media outlet The New Times on February 16 that M23 does not recognize the Angolan-proposed ceasefire.[25]

Boulos has warned of sanctions for non-compliance to the Washington Peace Accords in recent days. Boulos blamed M23 and Rwanda for recent violence in the eastern DRC and called Rwanda’s support for M23 a “serious breach” of the framework in an interview with French state media on February 16.[26] Boulos told German state media on February 17 that “any party” who undermines peace efforts could face sanctions.[27] The French investigative outlet Africa Intelligence had reported in early February that the Trump administration has prepared a sanctions package on several high-ranking Rwanda army, intelligence, and mining officials.[28]

Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye assumed the honorary presidency of the African Union (AU). Ndayishimiye succeeded Lourenço and assumed the rotating chairmanship at the AU summit in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital and seat of the AU, on February 14 and 15.[29] Rwandan President Paul Kagame did not attend the AU summit in Addis Ababa.[30] Tshisekedi was present, reportedly accompanied by a “large delegation,” and held several meetings on the sidelines, including with Lourenço, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Mozambican President Daniel Chapo.[31] Tshisekedi said he met with Lourenço to discuss operationalizing the Doha ceasefire mechanism.[32]  Gnassingbé was expected to present his report from the five AU facilitators based upon their diplomatic tour of the Great Lakes that ended in early February.[33] M23 sent a delegation to Addis Ababa that met with “several African government officials” on the sidelines of the summit.[34] A delegation from former DRC President Joseph Kabila’s political platform was also present in Addis Ababa.[35]

Burundi assumes the AU presidency as an active belligerent in the eastern DRC conflict. The AU is the official guarantor of the Washington Peace Accords peace framework between the DRC and Rwanda. The Rwandan foreign minister told the French magazine Jeune Afrique on February 13 that Rwanda is demanding that Ndayishimiye refrain from “gaining the upper hand” by interfering in negotiations led by the AU.[36] Burundi has had troops deployed to fight alongside the FARDC against M23 and other armed groups in the eastern DRC conflict since late 2021. Relations between Rwanda and Burundi deteriorated further in 2025, as both sides accused each other of trying to destabilize the other. Africa Intelligence reported in mid-February that Ndayishimiye’s AU presidency is expected to focus largely on the crisis in the Sahel in West Africa, however, and that his team is evaluating the most effective way to participate in implementing the US-brokered peace framework.[37]

The European Union (EU) announced over $95 million in humanitarian aid to the Great Lakes region. The EU announced on February 17 that it would mobilize $95.8 million for humanitarian relief across the Great Lakes.[38] The EU said that most of the aid will be used for efforts in the DRC but also for “regional refugee response” and disaster preparedness across the region, particularly in Burundi.[39] The announcement comes as a senior EU humanitarian official, Hadja Lahbib, is on a tour of the region, scheduled to visit the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, and M23-controlled Goma between February 17 and 20.[40] Lahbib is the highest-ranking EU official to visit M23 territory. Lahbib is expected to emphasize the need for expanded humanitarian access in her meetings with various officials on the trip.[41] The Wall Street Journal reported on February 15 that food has become scarce and food prices have skyrocketed in M23-controlled areas as insecurity persists and M23 continues to restrict agricultural production and trade, only allowing food imports through Rwanda.[42]

The UN repatriated over 150 Rwandan refugees to Rwanda from the eastern DRC. The UN said on February 13 that the UN voluntarily repatriated 161 people to Rwanda from M23-controlled Goma.[43] The DRC, Rwanda, and the UN had committed to find solutions to the refugee crisis and expedite refugee repatriations in late July 2025 in line with the US-backed peace accord.[44]

France denied that its troops are covertly deployed in the DRC. Pictures circulated on social media that purported to show French soldiers covertly deployed in Kisangani in Tshopo district in central DRC. The Kisangani airport is a major military hub for FARDC drone and logistic operations. The French embassy in the DRC said in response to the viral pictures on February 16 that the French army has provided training to the FARDC in Kisangani in a “standard bilateral cooperation” effort since early 2022.[45]

M23 said that it will seek to build its own telecommunications infrastructure in areas that it controls. Telephone and internet services were restored to most of North Kivu and parts of South Kivu after more than a month of no connection on February 16.[46] Telecommunications reportedly remain down in the South Kivu highlands.[47] Airtel, Orange, and Vodacom are the largest licensed service providers in the eastern DRC. Pro-Congolese government forces had recaptured Point Zéro near Minembwe, which houses the only Vodacom telecommunications antenna in the region, in an offensive on January 29.[48] M23 and pro-M23 groups have claimed that the Congolese government imposed a “communications blackout” on areas where ethnic Banyamulenge civilians live, mainly Uvira town and the highlands around Minembwe, after M23 withdrew and pro-Congolese government forces retook control of Uvira in mid-January.[49] The M23-appointed governor of North Kivu, Bahati Musanga Erasto, announced that M23 is working to develop an independent mobile network outside of government control in a public speech on February 16.[50]

Disruptions to internet and mobile phone service had disrupted economic life in North Kivu. Significant areas of Walikale, Masisi, and Rutshuru districts reportedly started experiencing disruptions to service in mid-to-late January.[51] Some people were only able to access the internet in North Kivu via expensive and rare Starlink terminals.[52] Radio Okapi reported on January 25 that the reason for disruptions to service provided by Airtel and Orange was unclear but cited a Vodacom technician in Walikale who said that heavy rains in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital over 1,000 miles away from North Kivu, had damaged several satellite link devices, resulting in outrages across the DRC, including in North Kivu.[53] Vodacom claimed in a statement on January 26 that unidentified individuals breached its operations center in Goma, which led to the complete shutdown of its systems in the provincial capital and its surrounding areas.[54] The Congolese communications minister claimed that it was M23 who broke into the facility and blamed the service disruptions to internet and mobile banking on the group in a statement on social media on February 2.[55] Vodacom said separately that a “major technical incident” involving a subsea fiber optic cable system linked to West Africa was causing disruptions to internet access “across the entire national territory” in a statement on February 4.[56]

A Rwandan telecommunications company has reportedly provided service to M23-controlled areas in North Kivu amid repeated disruptions. The Congolese media outlet Tazama RDC reported on February 5 that MTN Rwanda, the biggest Rwandan telecommunications provider and a subsidiary of South-Africa based MTN Group, Africa’s largest wireless carrier, installed repeaters on antennas in Rutshuru town and that MTN sim cards were being sold in the town and nearby Kiwanja.[57] DRC Prime Minister Judith Suminwa met with communications officials and executives from Airtel, Orange and Vodacom to discuss “digital intrusion and the illegal use of Congolese frequencies by a foreign operator” on February 10.[58] The DRC’s telecommunications regulatory authority then formally accused MTN of infringing on its digital sovereignty and illegally providing internet access to users in Goma and Rutshuru without an operating license in a statement on February 11.[59] MTN told Bloomberg on February 13 that it does not service a mobile network in the DRC but took note of the complaint.[60] The Rwandan government then issued a complaint alleging signal spillover from networks on the Congolese side of the border.[61]

Significant US-Backed Regional Economic Activity

The Congolese government included the M23-controlled Rubaya mine in North Kivu in the list of strategic mineral assets to be developed in cooperation with the United States. Reuters cited a senior Congolese official and a US diplomat on February 18 who said that the DRC added the major tantalum-producing site to a list of potential mining projects that could benefit from US investment in the inaugural US-DRC Joint Steering Committee meeting in Washington, DC on February 5.[62] M23’s deputy political head, Bertrand Bisimwa, criticized the report on social media on February 18 and said that it reflected the government’s “desperate bid for survival,” given that M23 controls the mine.[63] The Congolese national economy minister told Jeune Afrique on February 18 that the government does not consider the site “outside the scope of what we can put on the table for our partners,” even if it does not currently control it.[64]

DRC’s state-owned Gécamines struck a deal with Swiss mining giant Glencore to secure sales rights to a significant amount of copper. Gécamines reached a deal with Glencore to acquire the right to market 110,000 tons of copper from Glencore’s majority stake in the Kamoto copper mine in Luabala province in the southeastern DRC for the next three years on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba summit in South Africa in mid-February.[65] Backing from the US International Development Finance Corp (DFC) was reportedly instrumental in the deal.[66] The deal also included the sale of 40 percent of Glencore’s stake in its Congolese assets to an American consortium backed by New York-based investment fund Orion Resource Partners, the DFC, and an Emirati sovereign fund.[67] Glencore said in a statement on February 18 that it then agreed to a land leasing deal with Gécamines that will help increase production at the Kamoto mine.[68]

A Belgium museum is reportedly stonewalling requests from the Congolese government and US mining company Kobold Metals for access to a repository of geological archives. The Congolese government and Kobold Metals had signed an agreement in July 2025 that permits the company to undertake a large-scale mineral exploration program across the DRC for copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium deposits using artificial intelligence (AI).[69] The agreement required Kobold to digitize extensive geological records on the DRC at the Royal Museum for Central Africa near Brussels, map mineral deposits, and provide free public access to historic geoscientific data through the DRC’s National Geological Service.[70] Kobold previously helped digitize many of Zambia’s geological records.[71] Kobold said that it still does not have access to the archives, and Belgian authorities said in mid-February that they plan to digitize the records themselves and cannot grant exclusive access to a “foreign private company” without a formal contract.[72] Louis Watum Kabamba, the Congolese mining minister, told UK-based Financial Times on February 11 that exchanges between the Belgian and Congolese governments were ongoing regarding the dispute.[73]

The Congolese government struck a partnership with a US investment firm to conduct AI-based mineral exploration. The Congolese government sealed a five-year partnership deal with US investment company Atlas Park at the Mining Indaba summit that will allow the company to conduct geological surveys and create new maps using proprietary AI software and historical data on the DRC’s mineral deposits.[74]