Congo War Security Review

Data Cutoff: July 31, 2026, at 1 P.M. EST

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Key Takeaway: The Joint Oversight Committee convened in France for its sixth meeting under the Washington Accords. The Congolese government announced a plan to demobilize the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR). M23-aligned Twirwaneho militia fighters reportedly captured several positions from pro-Congolese government forces to the north and south of Minembwe in South Kivu. The Congolese army conducted a drone strike on an M23 position near Nyabiondo town on the RP529 in Masisi district in North Kivu.

Kinetic Activity in Rutshuru & Eastern Masisi Districts

Pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters attacked M23 in Rutshuru district in North Kivu. A Wazalendo group released a statement on July 28 and claimed that it had killed four M23 troops in an ambush in Mashango village in Rutshuru.[1] Mashango is in the Bwito chiefdom in western Rutshuru, about 13 miles east of Mweso town on a local road.

Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia

Nothing significant to report.

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

M23-aligned Twirwaneho militia fighters reportedly captured several positions from pro-Congolese government forces to the north and south of Minembwe in South Kivu. CTP reported previously that Twirwaneho repelled pro-Congolese government attacks to capture Point Zéro, an operationally significant hilltop around 15 miles east of Minembwe, and captured several nearby villages in late July.[2] Twirwaneho reportedly clashed with pro-Congolese government forces and captured up to five villages in the Itombwe sector in Mwenga district, including Kipupu, which is the capital of Itombwe sector about nine miles north of Mikenge on the RP527, between July 25 and 27.[3] Twirwaneho fighters then reportedly captured Kimete village, which is around 21 miles south of Minembwe on a local road, and Kabanja village, around 13 miles southwest of Minembwe, on July 30, after dislodging pro-Congolese government forces.[4] The Congolese army (FARDC) previously had captured Kimete on July 6.[5]

M23 or Twirwaneho reportedly captured a village in the Uvira district midlands in South Kivu. M23 or Twirwaeho forces reportedly captured Kigarama village, which is near Rurambo in the Bafuliro chiefdom about 17 miles west of Luvungi in the midlands, after clashes with the FARDC and Wazalendo fighters on July 30.[6]

Pro-Congolese government forces claimed the capture of a Rwandan army (RDF) soldier in Uvira district. Congolese government-aligned media sources claimed on social media that the FARDC arrested an RDF soldier near Luvungi town on the RN5 in the Ruzizi Plain in South Kivu on July 27.[7]

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

The FARDC conducted a drone strike on an M23 position near Nyabiondo town on the RP529 in Masisi district. The FARDC reportedly conducted a drone strike on M23 position in Nyabiondo town along the RP529 on July 28.[8] The last reported clash in Nyabiondo was around July 24.[9] Congolese government-aligned media sources claimed that the strike killed five senior M23 officers.[10] Three Congolese government-aligned media sources suggested that the FARDC conducted the strikes using “new drones” and posted photos of a Turkish-made Bayraktar AKINCI high-altitude long-endurance drone as illustrations.[11] An M23-aligned journalist had cited a source close to the Congolese presidency in mid-July who claimed that the FARDC received three Bayraktar AKINCI drones and was waiting for the delivery of a fourth.[12]

M23 and pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters continued clashing in several areas in southern Masisi district in North Kivu. CTP reported previously that the two sides clashed near Kasake village on July 20.[13] Kasake is about five miles southwest of Ngungu in Masisi district. Wazalendos and M23 reportedly clashed near Kibabi village between July 24 and 27, after M23 had attacked Wazalendo positions.[14] Kibabi center is around five miles west of Rubaya on a local road. The two sides also reportedly clashed near Mushebere village, which is around six miles west of Ngungu, and nearby Kasoko village on July 27.[15]

Two M23-aligned armed groups reportedly clashed in Walikale district in North Kivu. Congolese media sources reported that two armed groups allied with M23 clashed in Kashesha village in the Kisimba group in Walikale following a dispute over heavy weapons on July 23.[16] The Kisimba group is about six miles northeast of Kalembe village on the RP1030 on local roads.

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu

Nothing significant to report.

Major Political Developments

The Joint Oversight Committee (JOC) convened in France for its sixth meeting under the Washington Accords. French media reported that the JOC, which is comprised of the DRC, Rwanda, and observer nations and oversees the implementation of the Washington Accords, met in Paris, France on July 24.[17] The sixth JOC meeting had occurred in late June.[18] The next Joint Security Coordination Mechanism (JSCM) meeting under the accords will reportedly take place in Germany in mid-August.[19]

The Congolese government announced a plan to demobilize the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR). The FARDC had mobilized and deployed two or three battalions to North Kivu to prepare for military operations against the FDLR pending failed efforts to disarm them peacefully under its obligations under the Washington Accords in late March 2026.[20] The French investigative outlet Africa Intelligence reported on July 28 that the Congolese government decided against hiring the US private military contractor Bancroft Global Development after the firm offered to help with the FDLR’s disarmament.[21] Victor Byiringiro, the president of the FDLR’s political wing, wrote a letter to DRC President Félix Tshisekedi on May 30 outlining the group’s commitment in a plan to disarm and demobilize its fighters and place them in secure cantonment sites.[22]

The plan says that the FDLR would disarm, demobilize, and canton if there are “secure and viable sites with security guarantees” and guarantees of “no forced extradition” to Rwanda.[23] The plan conditions the FDLR’s “dissolution” on the “definitive cessation” of Rwandan army military operations against “Rwandan refugees” in the eastern DRC and the return of refugees with “real guarantees of justice, freedom, and respect for human rights.”[24] The plan also conditions the FDLR’s dissolution on the “opening of political space” in Rwanda.[25] The plan says that the FDLR would accept relocation to a third country if its conditions are not met for its return to Rwanda.[26] The plan commits the Congolese government to give priority to non-combat options to resolve the issue and fulfill its commitments under the Washington Accords, to establish cantonment sites and guarantee the security of FDLR combatants and their dependents at the sites, to “bring the refugee question before the competent international bodies,” and to collaborate with international partners to find a third country for cantonment.[27] The plan also calls for the establishment of a follow-up mechanism that includes international partners and experts to monitor implementation.[28]

The Congolese government is now promoting the plan publicly and to its regional and Western partners. Africa Intelligence reported that Tshisekedi endorsed the plan in several letters to Western partners in early July.[29] Floribert Anzuluni, Tshisekedi’s special envoy and the Minister of Regional Integration, then reportedly met with numerous interlocutors and visited Angola, Belgium, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, France, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda to discuss and promote the plan as a show of its commitment to the Washington Accords between July 10 and 27.[30] Anzuluni also met with the diplomatic corps in the DRC to present them the plan on July 28.[31] The French magazine Jeune Afrique cited several diplomatic sources who said that the JOC discussed the FDLR issue at the July 24 meeting in Paris.[32] The Congolese government formally announced the plan at a press conference on July 28, claiming that the military deployment phase in March had put pressure on and revived discussions with the FDLR’s political and military leadership, who then requested negotiations on the terms of disarmament, which led to the May 30 letter.[33] Anzuluni said that the government had already developed a plan to for the follow-up mechanism, including the timeline, budget, and cantonment sites, which it would soon finalize and release.[34] Anzuluni said that an unspecified African country had already said it was willing to accept the FDLR.[35]

The Congolese government said that the protocol was a “major turning point” and that the FDLR could only surrender and disarm if Rwandan troops withdraw from the eastern DRC.[36] The JSCM had identified six operational zones for anti-FDLR operations.[37] The Congolese government has repeatedly argued that it cannot conduct operations against the FDLR while five of the zones remain under M23 control, and has therefore called on M23 and Rwanda to disengage and withdraw. Jeune Afrique cited a “well-informed source” on the FDLR on July 31 who disputed this claim, however, and said that some FDLR factions operate in areas controlled by the Congolese government, notably in South Kivu.[38] The UN reported in June 2026 that the FARDC increased collaboration with the FDLR and that the group numbered between 3,500 and 4,500 combatants.[39] The report said that the group was organized into three different factions across North and South Kivu, the largest of which operated on several front lines in North Kivu.[40]

The Rwandan government rejected the plan. Jeune Afrique reported that the Rwandan delegation represented by two envoys formally rejected it at the JOC meeting in Paris.[41] Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on social on July 29 that the plan was outside of the Washington Accords framework and represented a “crude manipulation” and a “delaying tactic” on the part of the DRC to sidestep its security commitment under the framework.[42] Nduhungirehe claimed that the Congolese government has increased its military and political support to the FDLR since the DRC and Rwanda signed the accords in December 2025.[43] Africa Intelligence cited a Rwandan intelligence memo that said that the FDLR established their headquarters near Pinga town in Walikale in North Kivu.[44] The report claimed that the FARDC has continued collaborating with the FDLR and that their officers met in Rutshuru and Walikale districts in North Kivu to coordinate military operations several times in June.[45] The memo also claimed that the Congolese government has maintained contact with figures from the Rwandan opposition in exile and that the Congolese government organized meetings between these figures and FDLR leaders to “strengthen cooperation between the various movements hostile” to the Rwandan government.[46]

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) reportedly may have recently transported military equipment to Kinshasa. Flight tracking data indicates that a Moldovan-based cargo aircraft flew from Al Reef Airbase in Abu Dhabi to Kinshasa on July 23, possibly transporting military cargo intended for the FARDC.[47] The UAE reportedly uses Al Reef frequently for its military logistics operations in Africa.[48] CTP assessed previously that these shipments, which have increased since late June, are part of the growing DRC-UAE relationship, in which the DRC government likely intends to acquire security assistance and matériel for its fight against M23.[49]

The African Union (AU) adopted a six-month plan focused on peace in the eastern DRC after high-level meetings in Botswana. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo chaired a meeting between the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the AU, and the Government of Botswana in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital, on July 24 to 26.[50] The readout said that the meeting was part of an AU effort to coordinate peace efforts and that representatives reaffirmed their support for peace processes in the eastern DRC.[51] The AU held parallel meetings in Gaborone from July 25 to 26 where Obasanjo, former Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde, former Botswanan president Mokgweetsi E. Masisi, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Central African Republic President Catherine Samba-Panza, and an AU mediator adopted a six-month “roadmap” intended to promote AU-led peace processes in the eastern DRC.[52] The roadmap, which covers July to December 2026, is meant to help guide peace process coordination, humanitarian access, and other issues related to the conflict in the eastern DRC.[53]

Residents of M23-controlled areas demonstrated against constitutional change and sanctions on M23. Residents in several districts in North and South Kivu, including in Goma and Bukavu, held public demonstrations on July 28 against recent UN Security Council sanctions on several individuals and entities associated with M23 and the Congolese government’s proposed changes to the Congolese constitution, which CTP assessed previously would allow him to stay in power after the end of his constitutionally limited second term.[54] The Congolese government and critics of M23 accused the rebel group of coercing people to take place in the protests.[55]