Congo War Security Review, November 17, 2025

Data Cutoff: November 17, 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 latest analysis on the war in the eastern DRC in the weekly Africa File here.    

Key Takeaway: The Congolese government and M23 signed the Qatari-brokered peace framework agreement. M23 captured its first village in Shabunda district on the RP503 in South Kivu. Pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters conducted attacks on M23 on the RP1030 in Masisi district in North Kivu. M23 attacked Wazalendo fighters near the RN2 in Kabare district in South 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

M23 attacked pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters near the RN2 in Kabare district in South Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Radio Okapi reported that M23 targeted a Wazalendo position in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park near the RN2 in Kabare around November 16.[i] M23 reportedly killed a senior Wazalendo commander near Katana village on the RN2 on November 16.[ii] M23 had previously attacked Wazalendo fighters in several villages on the edge of the Kahuzi-Biega on November 13.[iii]

Pro-Congolese government forces bombed M23-aligned militia positions on the RP527 in South Kivu. Pro-Congolese government forces reportedly conducted drone strikes on M23-aligned Twirwaneho positions near two villages on the RP527, including Mikenge—about 15 miles north of Minembwe town—on November 15 and 17.[iv] Independent journalist Steve Wembi reported on social media on November 15 that the drone that launched an attack deployed from Burundi.[v] Local sources said that the strikes damaged private property but did not result in any casualties.[vi]

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

Wazalendo fighters blocked an M23 advance southwest of Masisi town in North Kivu. M23 reportedly advanced from Kazinga, which it had captured on November 14, and clashed with Wazalendos in several nearby villages on November 15.[vii] CTP is unable to locate the villages. The Congolese media outlet Acualite.cd reported that Wazalendo fighters then repelled an M23 attack on Bitoi village, about five miles northwest of Kazinga on a local road, on November 16.[viii]

Wazalendo fighters conducted attacks on M23 on the RP1030 in Masisi district. Congolese media sources reported that M23 repelled a Wazalendo attack in Kashuga village on the RP1030 in Masisi on November 14.[ix] Kashuga is about six miles north of Mweso on the RP1030. Actualite.cd reported that Wazalendos then launched attacks on M23 on November 15 and dislodged the rebel group from two villages near Kashuga, including Kashanje, on November 16.[x]

Wazalendos attacked M23 in a remote area north of the RP1030 in Walikale district in North Kivu. Wazalendo fighters reportedly attacked M23 in Bukumbirwa village in the Ikobo group in the Kisimba-Ikobo Primate Reserve in Walikale on November 15.[xi]

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu  

M23 captured its first village in Shabunda district on the RP503 in South Kivu. M23 reportedly attacked Wazalendo positions and captured Mayimingi village on the RP503 in Shabunda on November 16, marking the group’s first confirmed capture in Shabunda.[xii] Mayimingi is about 20 miles west of Nzibira on the RP503. Radio Okapi reported that the attack on Mayimingi caused thousands of civilians to flee the area.[xiii] Pro-Congolese government forces reportedly retreated about ten miles west of Mayimingi on the RP503 to Kimbili.[xiv] The Congolese media outlet Tazama RDC reported on social media that clashes resumed between M23 and Wazalendo fighters around Mayimingi on November 17.[xv] Tazama RDC reported separately that M23 clashed with Wazalendo fighters in Chulwe, about 12 miles west of Nzibira, on November 17.[xvi] The outlet cited local sources who claimed that Wazalendo fighters killed an M23 commander and more than 50 rebel fighters in Chulwe.[xvii]

M23 clashed with Wazalendo fighters in northern Mwenga district in South Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Radio Maendeleo reported that M23 clashed with Wazalendo fighters in two village groups in the Burhinyi chiefdom, including the Ntondo group, from November 12 to 14.[xviii] The Ntondo group is in a remote area roughly 20 miles west of the Twangiza industrial gold mine on a local road. M23 last clashed with Wazalendo fighters in Burhinyi in late October.[xix]

Major Political Developments

The Congolese government and M23 signed the Qatari-brokered peace framework agreement. Representatives from the Congolese government and M23 signed the framework agreement in Doha, the Qatari capital, on November 15.[xx] The Congolese and Rwandan governments welcomed the signing in separate statements.[xxi] Massad Boulos, US President Donald Trump’s Africa adviser, and the Qatari mediation team characterized the framework as an important step to peace efforts.[xxii] Several senior European officials, including French President Emmanuel Macron, also welcomed the signing on social media.[xxiii]

The agreement contains a commitment to end the war in the eastern DRC through several guiding principles and eight separate negotiating tracks or pillars to address key issues. Two of the eight pillars have already been signed—the ceasefire verification mechanism from October 14 and the prisoner exchange agreement from September 14. The framework outlines six additional pillars that the two sides will negotiate: humanitarian access and judicial protection; the return of state authority, governance reforms, and public administration; security; identity and citizenship; economic recovery and social services; and a justice, truth, and reconciliation commission.[xxiv] The two sides will negotiate each of the pillars one after the other and debate the content, timelines, stages, procedures, and measures for implementation and monitoring in future discussions.[xxv] The resolution of all six additional pillars will represent a comprehensive peace deal, referred to as the Global Peace Agreement.[xxvi] The framework agreement committed the two sides to start negotiating the pillars no later than two weeks from November 15.[xxvii]