Congo War Security Review

Data Cutoff: January 30, 2026, at 1 P.M. EST

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Key Takeaway: The African Union facilitators held meetings with the Congolese and Rwandan presidents as part of their tour of the Great Lakes region. Fighting between M23 and pro-Congolese government forces broke out in the Ruzizi Plain in South Kivu. The Congolese army (FARDC) and allied forces recaptured a key village from M23-aligned fighters in the Fizi highlands in South Kivu. The FARDC repelled an M23 attack and conducted an airstrike on the group near the RP1030 in Walikale district in North Kivu.

Kinetic Activity in M23-Controlled Areas    

Nothing significant to report.  

Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia  

Nothing significant to report.  

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

Fighting between M23 and pro-Congolese government forces broke out in the Ruzizi Plain in South Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Kivu Morning Post reported that M23 fighters descended from the midlands west of the RN5 in the Ruzizi and attacked Wazalendo positions in Kahamba and another nearby village in the Bafuliru chiefdom in Uvira district on January 28.[i] Kahamba is about four miles west of Runingu village on the RN5. Kivu Morning Post reported separately that other clashes between M23 and pro-Congolese government forces took place in three villages in the Kigoma group, about three miles west of Sange on the RN5, in the Ruzizi on January 28.[ii] M23 also reportedly clashed with pro-Congolese government forces, including Burundian army (FDNB) troops, in Runingu and Biriba villages—the latter of which is between Sange and Runingu on the RN5—on January 28.[iii] M23 reportedly targeted and set fire to an FDNB supply truck near Runingu on January 28.[iv] The Congolese government and M23 accused each other of indiscriminate violence against civilians when an explosion killed at least five civilians in M23-controlled Sange on January 29.[v] The Congolese media outlet Radio Okapi cited local witnesses who said that an “unknown person” detonated a grenade at the main market in Sange.[vi] Infighting between FARDC-Wazalendo units near Sange had resulted in the deaths of dozens of people during M23’s offensive on Uvira in early December 2025.[vii]

The FARDC and allied forces recaptured a key village from M23-aligned fighters in the Fizi highlands in South Kivu. The FARDC and Wazalendo fighters reportedly dislodged M23-aligned Twirwaneho fighters and retook control of Point Zéro village on January 29, after launching an offensive in the area around January 27.[viii] Point Zéro controls access to Minembwe town 16 miles to the west, the Mwenga highlands to the north, and Baraka town on the RN5 to the southeast. Twirwaneho had captured the village on January 16.[ix] Point Zéro was the last government-controlled hilltop east of Minembwe, and its fall had opened access for Twirwaneho fighters to reach Baraka, an FARDC military hub.

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

The FARDC repelled an M23 attack and conducted an airstrike on the group near the RP1030 in Walikale district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd reported that the FARDC repelled an M23 attack in Chanjikiro village in the Kisimba group in Walikale on January 29.[x] CTP is unable to verify the location of Chanjikiro. The Kisimba group is in a remote area in Walikale about six miles north of Kalembe and 10 miles east of Pinga. Actualite.cd reported that M23 fighters launched the attack from nearby Mpeti, which is M23’s forward position on the RP1030 about 12 miles east of Pinga.[xi] The FARDC then reportedly conducted an airstrike on M23 in Minjenje village on the RP1030 in Kisimba on January 29.[xii] Minjenje is an important logistics hub for M23 in Kisimba, about two miles southeast of Mpeti. This is the second FARDC air attack on M23 on the RP1030 in the last week. An FARDC attack drone had targeted M23 positions in Mpeti and Minjeneje on January 24.[xiii]

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu  

Nothing significant to report.  

Major Political Developments  

The African Union (AU) facilitators held meetings with the Congolese and Rwandan presidents as part of their tour of the Great Lakes region. The AU facilitators and the Togolese deputy foreign minister met with DRC President Félix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, to discuss peace efforts in the Great Lakes on January 29.[xiv] The facilitators and Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé then traveled to Kigali, the Rwandan capital, to meet with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on January 30.[xv] The trips mark the first time Tshisekedi and Kagame have officially met with the entire panel of facilitators. The delegation is expected to visit the Burundian and Ugandan capitals next, before traveling to M23-controlled Goma in early February.[xvi]