Congo War Security Review

Data Cutoff: May 29, 2026, at 1 P.M. EST

To receive the Africa File and Congo War Security Review via email, please subscribe here.  

Follow CTP on X, LinkedIn, and BlueSky for daily updates.  

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

Key Takeaway: US and Swiss mediators reportedly met separately with Congolese government and M23 authorities in late May. The Congolese army (FARDC) and pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters conducted an unsuccessful offensive against M23 on Rubaya town in Masisi district in North Kivu. M23 attacked the FARDC’s airbase in Kisangani in the central DRC using drones. The Congolese government conducted a drone strike on M23 near the group’s main military base north of Goma in North Kivu.

Kinetic Activity in M23-Controlled Areas    

The Congolese government conducted a drone strike on M23 near the group’s main military base north of Goma in North Kivu. The Congolese army (FARDC) or DRC-employed private military contractors (PMCs) reportedly conducted a drone attack using either a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) combat drone or a one-way attack (OWA) drone on a nature conservation facility near the Rumangabo military base in Rutshuru district—about 25 miles north of Goma—on May 24.[1] M23 political officials denounced the strikes.[2] An unverified report from pro-M23 journalist Rodriguez Katsuva claimed that the Congolese government believed that M23’s military commander, Sultani Makenga, was in the area, reportedly to supervise the end of training for new M23 parallel administration cadres, which has been underway since late April.[3] The Congolese government had previously tried to kill Makenga in the drone strike that killed Willy Ngoma, a senior rebel leader, near Rubaya town in Masisi district in North Kivu during the FARDC’s late February offensive.[4]

Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia  

Nothing significant to report.  

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

The FARDC and pro-Congolese government forces clashed with M23-aligned militia fighters in the South Kivu highlands. M23’s political spokesman, Lawrence Kanyuka, claimed that DRC coalition forces used combat helicopters, OWA drones, a fighter jet, and a Turkish-made TAI Anka MALE drone to attack Minembwe town and two nearby villages in the Fizi highlands on May 15.[5] Kanyuka claimed that DRC coalition forces then bombed three villages near Minembwe—Bidegu, Kalingi, and Mikenge—using OWA drones and other military aircraft on May 16 and 17. [6] Mikenge is about 15 miles north of Minembwe on the RP527. Kanyuka claimed that DRC coalition forces attacked Minembwe again on May 18.[7] The FARDC and pro-Congolese government media sources claimed that the FARDC shot down three attack drones operated by the Rwandan army over Kalonge 2 and Point Zéro village, the latter a hilltop about 15 miles east of Minembwe, on May 18 and 19.[8] Kanyuka claimed that Wazalendo fighters intercepted and turned back a humanitarian convoy en route to Minembwe at Point Zéro on May 19.[9] Kanyuka claimed that DRC coalition forces conducted air attacks using OWA and other drones on Kalingi, Bidegu, and Kakenge on May 19 and 20.[10] The FARDC claimed that M23 coalition forces bombed several localities in the highlands, including Mikenge, and targeted FARDC positions using drones at Kalingi and Point Zéro on May 20.[11] The Congolese media outlet Kivu Morning Post reported that M23-aligned Twirwaneho fighters killed at least 15 FARDC soldiers in clashes in Mikenge and near Point Zéro on May 20.[12] Kanyuka claimed that DRC coalition forces bombed Minembwe and killed at least 33 cows belonging to locals in Bidegu using OWA and other drones on May 21.[13] Kanyuka claimed that DRC coalition forces bombed Mikenge, Kakenge, Bidegu, Kalingi, and Kalonge using OWA and other drones on May 22 and 23.[14] Kanyuka claimed that DRC coalition forces bombed Kalingi, Bidegu, Kakenge, Rugezi, Kalonge, and Mikenge using OWA and other drones on May 23 and 24.[15] Kivu Morning Post reported that the FARDC conducted drone attacks that targeted Bidegu, Kalingi, Kakenge, and Kalonge around Minembwe on May 25.[16] Moïse Nyarugabo, a pro-M23 Congolese politician from South Kivu, claimed that DRC forces conducted 60 drone attacks on Kalingi, Ilundu, and Kakenge on May 25.[17] Nyarugabo and Twirwaneho claimed that several government drones bombed Mikenge, Kalingi, and Ihundu on May 27.[18] Pro-Congolese government media sources reported on May 27 that the FARDC deployed drones around Minembwe equipped with loudspeakers to broadcast messages to enemy fighters.[19]

The Burundian army (FDNB) reportedly deployed additional troops to the South Kivu highlands. The Burundian media outlet SOS Médias Burundi reported that the FDNB deployed two more battalions—or as many as 1,300 troops—in support of the Congolese government to South Kivu on May 15.[20] The outlet reported that the reinforcements landed near Uvira town via boat, before deploying toward Bijombo and Itombwe in the Uvira and Mwenga highlands.[21] Twirwaneho claimed in a statement on social media on May 29 that the FDNB and FARDC were preparing for a “major offensive” against Minembwe in the short-term.[22] The FDNB reinforcements arrived days after M23 withdrew from the Ruzizi Plain in South Kivu, an area 20 miles from Uvira and roughly 50 miles from the Fizi and Mwenga highlands.[23]

Congolese government authorities suspended civilian traffic with M23-controlled territory on the RN5. The Congolese government reportedly suspended road traffic on the RN5, which connects Bukavu to Uvira, around May 19.[24]

Pro-Congolese government forces reportedly clashed with M23 near the Kavumu airport in Kabare district in South Kivu. Pro-Congolese government media sources reported that the two sides clashed in the Kavumu area, including in Mbayo and Tshivanga villages, on May 18, causing residents of several surrounding villages to flee.[25] Mbayo and Tshivanga are on the edge of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, the latter about five miles west of the Kavumu airport. The Congolese media outlet Radio Okapi reported that clashes between the two sides took place again in Mbayo on May 21.[26]

Fighting also reportedly took place to the north in Kalehe district in South Kivu. A pro-Congolese government journalist reported on social media that the FARDC and Wazalendo fighters clashed with M23 in Tushunguti, the main town in the Ziralo group in northern Kalehe, on May 20 and 23, retaking control of the village on May 23.[27] Kanyuka claimed in a statement on social media that the DRC coalition conducted attacks in the Cyangungu area in Kalehe on May 24.[28] CTP is unable to verify the location of Cyangungu.

M23 allegedly abandoned several positions in Idjwi district in South Kivu. Pro-Congolese government sources claimed on social media that M23 withdrew from several positions in the Mugote group in the Ntabuka chiefdom in Idjwi on May 18 and 19.[29] CTP is unable to verify this claim. The Ntabuka chiefdom makes up the southern side of the Idjwi district island.

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani 

The FARDC and pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters conducted an unsuccessful offensive on Rubaya town in Masisi district in North Kivu. The FARDC and Wazalendo fighters launched the offensive on May 18 and dislodged M23 from at least six villages, including the Katoyi sector capital in southern Masisi district, which is roughly 17 miles southwest of the Rubaya mine in southern North Kivu province.[30] Fighting also took place south of Rubaya and in as many as nine villages within 15 miles west and northwest of the town between May 20 and 25.[31] The government offensive has reportedly displaced several thousand people.[32] A combat drone presumably operated by the FARDC or DRC-employed PMCs reportedly conducted as many as four drone strikes on M23 positions in Kinigi, about seven miles from Rubaya, on May 24.[33] The FARDC or DRC-employed PMCs presumably conducted two drone strikes, including one that targeted a local motel in Rubaya center and caused significant damage and several injures, on May 24.[34] Reporting from pro-M23 and pro-Congolese government sources indicate that the FARDC may have acted on bad intelligence that M23’s North Kivu governor was staying at the motel.[35] M23 political officials denounced the strikes and claimed that the DRC used a Chinese-made CH-4 MALE drone in the attack.[36]

M23 reportedly began consolidating forces for several days before launching a major counteroffensive and recovering most of the positions that it had lost. Pro-Congolese government media outlets claimed that M23 began reinforcing troops and military equipment in Rubaya as early as May 21.[37] The group launched a coordinated counteroffensive on May 26 and began pushing Wazalendo fighters back from Rubaya, recapturing at least a dozen villages.[38] Pro-Congolese government media sources claimed on social media that M23 deployed special force units, heavy artillery, and attack drones in the counteroffensive.[39] Senior M23 officials held a public rally in Rubaya and assured locals that the town would not fall to enemy forces on May 26.[40] Pro-M23 sources reported that M23 retook control of Katobotobo and Ruki villages, the former about 13 miles northwest of Rubaya, on May 27.[41] Kanyuka claimed that DRC coalition villages conducted an attack on Masheke village in Masisi on May 27. CTP is unable to verify the location of Masheke.[42]

M23 attacked the FARDC’s airbase in Kisangani in the central DRC using drones. M23 launched its fourth drone barrage on Kisangani since the beginning of 2026 on May 23 and 24.[43] Kisangani is the headquarters of the FARDC’s third defense zone and houses many of the MALE drones that have been integral to the FARDC’s air campaign, which escalated in late 2025.[44] Congolese-contracted PMCs in Kisangani have reportedly used Turkish-made and Indian-made D4 anti-drone defense systems acquired in 2025 to defend against M23’s drone campaign on Kisangani.[45] M23 was partially successful in targeting these drone defense systems in the latest attack and used up to eight separate projectiles or drones on various sites used by the FARDC drone command at the base, although CTP is unable to assess the full extent of the damage.[46] The attack reportedly damaged a mobile drone command center, air defense systems, and possibly other facilities, although the DRC claimed that it intercepted the projectiles before reaching their targets.[47]

The two sides also clashed near and north of the RP1030 in Masisi and Walikale districts. The Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd reported that the FARDC repelled an M23 attack in a village near Ihula village—a few miles north of Kalembe on the RP1030 in a remote area—in the Kisimba group on May 18.[48] Congolese media sources reported that M23 forces conducted attacks on FARDC and Wazalendo positions in Katobo village in Kisimba, about two miles north of Ihula, on May 20.[49] Fighting resumed on May 21, according to Actualite.cd, when M23 attacked government positions in three villages in the Banansuka locality, near Ihula, in Kisimba on May 21.[50] Kivu Morning Post reported that M23 repelled a Wazalendo incursion to the south of the RP1030 in Lughala village in the Kahira locality in the Bashali chiefdom in Masisi district on May 21.[51] Kahira is about 20 miles northeast of Masisi town. The two sides then clashed again north of the RP1030 in Banansuka, including in Kibunanwa village, on May 23.[52] The FARDC reportedly conducted drone strikes on M23 positions in Rusamambu in the Ikobo group to the northwest of Kisimba on May 23.[53] The FARDC and Wazalendo fighters then reportedly recaptured Ihula after clashes with M23 on May 24.[54] M23 reportedly recaptured Ihula, Katobo, and Mukohwa, however, after clashes with FARDC and Wazalendo forces on May 26.[55] Wazalendo fighters reportedly conducted incursions and attacked M23, killing at least 10 civilians in Kalembe and Malemo towns on the RP1030 between May 24 and 26.[56] Fighting also reportedly took place in Misambo village in the Bukumbirwa locality, which is near Rusamambu in Ikobo, on May 27 and 28.[57] Actualite.cd reported that Wazalendo fighters withdrew from Luola, a village in the Banakindi locality in Kisimba near the RP1030, on May 29, after M23 conducted drone attacks on Wazalendo positions in Luola from Ihula.[58] Wazalendo fighters then reportedly ambushed M23 fighters to the west in Lusuli village on the RP1030 in Rutshuru district to the east of Kisimba on May 28.[59]

M23 clashed with Wazalendo fighters around Nyabiondo town in Masisi district. Wazalendo fighters reportedly attacked and dislodged M23 from a village near Kashebere on the RP529 in the adjacent Walikale district on May 15 and 16.[60] Kashebere is about eight miles west of Nyabiondo on the RP529. Wazalendo fighters then reportedly attacked M23 positions in Nyabiondo and briefly occupied the town on May 27.[61]

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu  

M23 reportedly clashed with the FARDC and Wazalendo fighters in northern Mwenga district in South Kivu. Pro-Congolese government media sources reported on social media on May 18 that M23 clashed with FARDC and Wazalendo fighters in Luntukulu village in the Luindi chiefdom in northern Mwenga.[62] CTP is unable to verify this reporting. The Luindi chiefdom is on the northern end of the Itombwe Mountains and borders the RN5 to the east in northern Mwenga. Luntukulu is about 10 miles south of Nzibira in Walungu district on a local road. The last reported clash between M23 and pro-Congolese government forces in Luntukulu was in early October 2025.[63] The pro-Congolese government journalist Byobe Malenga reported on social media that clashes continued in the Luindi chiefdom in Kiomvu village on May 19.[64] CTP is unable to verify the location of Kiomvu. The two sides then reportedly clashed further south in Ngenga village, on a stretch of the RN2 road between Kalambi and Kasika—the seat of the Luindi chiefdom—villages in northern Mwenga on May 27.[65]

Major Political Developments

US and Swiss mediators reportedly met separately with Congolese government and M23 authorities in late May. The French state media outlet Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported on May 28 that US and Swiss mediators met with Congolese government negotiators in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, to discuss the implementation of the first two pillars under the November 2025 framework agreement in late May.[66] The M23-aligned Congolese journalist Steve Wembi reported on social media on May 27 that the Congolese government released 37 detainees whom the DRC had arrested for alleged collaboration with M23 from several detentions centers in Kinshasa.[67] RFI reported that the mediators then met with representatives from M23 in Rwanda.[68] RFI reported that the United States wants Switzerland to play a greater role as mediator in the process.[69] RFI reported that the M23-controlled Rubaya mining site was a central focus of the meeting between M23 and the US and Swiss delegates.[70]

The International Contact Group for the Great Lakes (ICG) urged all parties to abide by their peace commitments. The ICG, composed of the United States, the European Union, and nine European countries released a statement on May 22 that called on the DRC, M23, and Rwanda to uphold their engagements under the Washington and Doha processes.[71] The ICG called on commitments made in the peace processes to “immediately translate into improvements on the ground,” including with respect to humanitarian access.[72] The ICG condemned the use of drones that has caused civilian casualties in the fighting in the eastern DRC.[73]

M23 claimed that it finished training nearly 600 new parallel administration officials. The group announced on May 24 that it finished ideological training for what the group claimed was 573 “community leaders, grouping chiefs, and village chiefs” at a training center in Rutshuru district in North Kivu.[74] This is the fourth round of training M23 has finished for new parallel administration officials since late April. M23 claimed on May 7 that it trained over 400 new cadres.[75] M23 claimed on April 30 that it trained over 500 new cadres.[76] The group claimed on April 23 that it trained over 400 new cadres.[77]

Significant US-Backed Regional Economic Activity

Rwanda signed a memorandum of understanding for civil nuclear energy cooperation with the United States. The Rwandan government signed agreements for civil nuclear energy cooperation with the US government and US company Holtec International during the African Nuclear Energy Innovation Summit in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, on May 19.[78] The agreements notably include exploring the possibility of deploying Holetc’s SMR-300 small modular reactor technology in Rwanda.