Congo War Security Review, December 3, 2025

Data Cutoff: December 3, 2025, at 1 P.M. EST

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Key Takeaway: M23 launched offensives on pro-Congolese government forces on two axes on the frontlines near the RN5 in South Kivu. M23 advanced westward in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park near the RN2 and RN3 roads in South Kivu. M23 attacked Wazalendo fighters near Nyabiondo in Masisi district in North Kivu. M23 reportedly advanced southward to Mwenga town 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 launched offensives on pro-Congolese government forces on two axes on the frontlines near the RN5 in South Kivu. M23 reportedly attacked Congolese army (FARDC) and pro-Congolese government Wazalendo positions using heavy and light weaponry near Lwanguku town in the Kaziba chiefdom in Walungu district on December 2.[i] The fighting wounded dozens of civilians and killed more than 20 people in at least five village groups in eastern Kaziba on December 2.[ii] FARDC-Wazalendo forces reportedly repelled the attacks in Kaziba and targeted M23 positions using attack drones and fighter jets on December 2.[iii] The two sides clashed again in Kaziba and in the adjacent Bafuliru chiefdom in Uvira district on December 3.[iv] M23 has partially controlled Kaziba—roughly 30 miles south of Bukavu—since a late April offensive in southern Walungu.

M23 had reportedly reinforced its positions in Kaziba before conducting the attacks and tried to break through enemy positions and advance southeast to Lubarika village in Bafuliru chiefdom and then five miles further to Luvungi town on the RN5 in the Ruzizi Plain.[v] Unconfirmed reports on social media claimed that M23 captured Lubarika on December 2.[vi] Luvungi is a key position for FARDC-Wazalendo fighters and Burundian army (FDNB) forces on the RN5 to block an M23 advance on Uvira town. The FARDC denied a report that the area commander  demanded that Wazalendo fighters withdraw from Luvungi to the surrounding hills when fighting intensified.[vii]

M23 conducted separate attacks on pro-Congolese government positions north of Luvungi on the RN5. M23 forces reportedly attacked FARDC-Wazalendo and FDNB forward positions in Katagota village on December 2.[viii] Katagota is about 35 miles south of Bukavu and three miles south of M23’s forward position in Kamanyola, which the group has controlled since the lines of territorial control largely froze on the RN5 in late February and March. Some Burundian soldiers reportedly abandoned their positions on the frontline on December 2.[ix] M23 had reportedly militarized the RN5 south of Bukavu and deployed hundreds of troops and advanced military equipment to the frontline in the days prior to launching the attacks.[x] A pro-Congolese government reporter cited a local humanitarian source who claimed that new M23 recruits were “being pushed to the frontlines” during the fighting.[xi]

Pro-Congolese government forces reportedly counterattacked and pushed M23 back toward Kamanyola on December 2.[xii] The two sides clashed again on the frontlines around Katagota on December 3, reportedly close to the Kamanyola bridge on the Luvinvi River and on the hills surrounding Katagota—including in Lubarika and parts of eastern Kaziba—with neither side making significant advances.[xiii] Both sides used artillery, and pro-Congolese government artillery attacks on M23 positions in Kamanyola reportedly injured civilians and caused extensive damage to private property on December 2 and 3.[xiv] Hundreds of civilians fled north from Katogota, Lubarika, and Luvungi toward Kamanyola and the border with Rwanda.[xv] Rwanda closed a border crossing point near the conflict zone on December 2 before reopening it on December 3.[xvi] Burundian media reported that Burundian soldiers prevented some civilians from seeking refuge in Burundi amid the heavy clashes.[xvii]

M23 advanced westward in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park near the RN2 and RN3 roads in South Kivu. M23 reportedly attacked Wazalendo fighters in a remote area near Tshivanga village in Kahuzi-Biega and advanced an unspecified distance westward in Kahuzi-Biega toward Bunyankiri on the RN3 axis on December 2.[xviii] Tshivanga is about five miles west of the Kavumu airport on the RN2 in Kabare. The Congolese media outlet Acutalite.cd reported that residents in Bitale village, which is about 12 miles south of Bunyankiri on the RN3, fled due to M23’s advances.[xix] The Congolese media outlet Radio Maendeleo reported separately that Wazalendo fighters attacked M23 near the southern edge of Kahuzi Biega in the Cirunga group in Kabare district—about six miles west of Bukavu center—on December 2.[xx]

M23-aligned militia fighters clashed with pro-Congolese government forces in the highlands in southern South Kivu. M23-aligned Twirwaneho fighters reportedly clashed with Wazalendo fighters in two remote villages south of Minembwe town in Fizi district on December 1 and 2.[xxi] Twirwaneho fighters had previously attacked Wazalendos in several villages south of Minembwe in late November.[xxii] The FARDC claimed on December 2 that it separately recaptured from Twirwaneho fighters a village northeast of Minembwe near the RP527.[xxiii]

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

M23 attacked Wazalendo fighters near Nyabiondo in Masisi district in North Kivu. Actualite.cd reported that M23 attacked Wazalendo positions in Kinyumba, about three miles north of Kinyumba, on December 2.[xxiv] The FARDC reportedly conducted an airstrike on an M23 position in a village near Nyabiondo during the clashes on December 2.[xxv] M23 had reinforced its positions in Lukweti—ten miles north of Kinyumba on a local road—around December 1, after Wazalendo fighters recaptured Kinyumba from M23 in late November.[xxvi]

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu

M23 reportedly advanced southward to Mwenga town in South Kivu. French state media reported that M23 clashed with Wazalendo fighters and FDNB troops in Mwenga town and Kasika—about 14 miles north of Mwenga on the RN2—on December 2.[xxvii] M23 had captured Kasika on November 26 before reportedly advancing within a few miles of Mwenga town in late November.[xxviii] Senior M23 officials claimed on social media on December 2 that pro-Congolese government forces initiated the engagements.[xxix]

Major Political Developments   

Nothing significant to report.