Congo War Security Review, January 9, 2026

Data Cutoff: January 9, 2026, at 1 P.M. EST

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Key Takeaway: DRC President Félix Tshisekedi met with his Angolan counterpart to discuss a possible Congolese political dialogue for the second time this week. Defense ministries are meeting to discuss regional security under the auspices of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). M23 attacked pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters in Walikale district in North 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

Nothing significant to report.  

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

M23 attacked pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters in Walikale district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd reported that M23 bombed Wazalendo positions in Kisimba group in the Katobo forest in Walikale on January 6.[i] The Kisimba group is in a remote area north of the RP1030, roughly ten miles east of Pinga and six miles northeast of Kalembe village on local roads. Actualite.cd reported separately that M23 redeployed additional troops and military equipment to Mpeti—about 12 miles east of Pinga on the RP1030—from Kalembe on January 7.[ii]

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu  

Nothing significant to report.  

Major Political Developments  

DRC President Félix Tshisekedi met with his Angolan counterpart to discuss a possible Congolese political dialogue for the second time this week. Tshisekedi met with Angolan President João Lourenço in Luanda, the Angolan capital, on January 8.[iii] Tshisekedi had met with Lourenço in Luanda earlier this week, on January 5, where they discussed what Tshisekedi described as Lourenço’s “interesting” proposals for peace in the eastern DRC conflict.[iv] The purpose of the January 8 meeting was to refine the proposals—the granular details of which are not fully clear—and clarify that any new Angolan-led effort does not seek to replace the Washington and Doha processes but “press the conflicting parties to respect their commitments.”[v] Lourenço could reportedly mediate some form of political dialogue in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, among Tshisekedi and a range of Congolese leaders and actors, including M23, the political opposition, and religious and civil society leaders—the latter of whom would participate but not organize.[vi] French state media reported on January 9 that Tshisekedi and Lourenço did not discuss an inclusive dialogue as demanded by some Congolese elites, however, but Angola has reportedly already contacted some members of the political opposition for a possible dialogue.[vii] Tshisekedi said that he wants M23 to first declare an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire,” which he would reportedly then evaluate.[viii] The M23-aligned Congolese journalist Steve Wembi reported on January 8 that Tshisekedi would commit to release M23 prisoners on a case-by-case basis.[ix] Wembi quoted an M23 source separately who said that an Angolan-mediated dialogue “does not interest us” and that Tshisekedi would have to “publicly proclaim the divorce and the end of Doha” for M23 to participate.[x] Corneille Nangaa, M23’s political head, had accused Tshisekedi of refusing to release M23 prisoners and boycotting two ceasefire evaluation meetings under the Doha process in a speech in late December.[xi]

Defense ministries are meeting to discuss regional security under the auspices of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). Zambia is hosting defense experts, chiefs of staff, and defense ministers from at least eight of the 12 ICGLR member states in Livingstone, Zambia, between January 8 to 10.[xii] It is unclear whether Rwandan government officials are participating in the summit. The summit is reportedly focusing on security challenges on the regional level, reviewing the terms of the October 14 ceasefire agreement between the DRC and M23, verifying M23’s withdrawal from Uvira town in South Kivu, and revamping the ICGLR’s Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM) for a ceasefire in the eastern DRC.[xiii] French state media reported on January 8 that Zambia will play a “key role” in the EJVM’s revamp and that the new head of the mechanism will be a Zambian national.[xiv] Wembi reported in a separate development on January 8 that Tshisekedi’s security advisor, Désiré Eberande, is expected to travel to Tanzania in January to discuss the possible deployment of Tanzanian troops to secure Kalemie, the Tanganyika provincial capital.[xv]