Data Cutoff: August 15, 2025, 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 forecast of DRC-M23 peace talks and the trajectory of the conflict in the eastern DRC in Challenges to Sustainable DRC-M23 Peace: Africa File Special Edition.

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

Key Takeaway: Pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters repelled an M23 attack in a remote area in Walikale district in North Kivu. M23 reportedly reinforced its positions with troops and weaponry in Walikale.

Kinetic Activity in Rutshuru & Eastern Masisi Districts

Nothing significant to report.

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

Nothing significant to report.

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

Pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters repelled an M23 attack in a remote area in Walikale district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd reported that Wazalendo fighters repelled the attack in Buhimba village in the Kisimba group in Walikale on August 13.[i] CTP is unable to verify the location of Buhimba. The Kisimba group is located roughly 12 miles east of Pinga, a military and logistics hub on the RP1030 in Masisi district.

M23 reportedly reinforced its positions with troops and weaponry in Walikale. Actualite.cd reported that M23 transported troops, military equipment, and heavy weaponry to the Ikobo group—about nine miles northeast of Pinga—and Kisimba group, including to Mpeti village on the RP1030, via Kalembe on the RP1030 from its positions in Kitshanga and Mweso villages in Masisi district on August 13 and August 14.[ii] The Congolese news outlet Media Congo cited a senior civil society figure in Walikale who claimed on August 14 that Rwandan troops are operating alongside M23 in Kalembe.[iii]

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu

Nothing significant to report.

Major Political Developments

Nothing significant to report.


[i] https://actualite dot cd/2025/08/14/walikale-encore-une-attaque-des-rebelles-de-lafcm23-buhimba

[ii] https://actualite dot cd/2025/08/14/masisi-walikale-les-rebelles-de-lafcm23-continuent-de-renforcer-leurs-positions; https://actualite dot cd/2025/08/15/walikale-apres-kalembekalonge-les-rebelles-de-lafcm23-se-renforcent-mpety-ihula

[iii] https://www.mediacongo dot net/article-actualite-154025_est_de_la_rdc_la_societe_civile_du_nord_kivu_alerte_sur_le_renforcement_des_positions_du_m23_afc_autour_de_walikale.html

View Citations