Congo War Security Review, February 4, 2026

Data Cutoff: February 4, 2026, at 1 P.M. EST

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Read CTP’s assessment on the security situation in South Kivu in Uvira Returned, but South Kivu Still at Risk: Congo War Security Review Special Edition.

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

Key Takeaway: M23 claimed responsibility for a recent drone attack on the Kisangani airport in Tshopo province in the central DRC. The Congolese government and M23 signed a terms of reference agreement for the ceasefire verification mechanism. Pro-Congolese government forces repelled an attack by M23-aligned militia fighters near Minembwe town in Fizi district in South Kivu. The African Union mediators traveled to Uganda for the last stop in their diplomatic tour of the Great Lakes region.

Kinetic Activity in M23-Controlled Areas    

M23 conducted a cordon and search operation in Rutshuru district in North Kivu. M23 reportedly conducted the operation in Bambo village, about 30 miles east of Mweso village on the RP1030 in Masisi district, in the Bwito chiefdom in Rutshuru on January 31.[i] Local sources told Congolese media that M23 forcibly transferred over 100 young people to an unknown location after questioning them for their suspected ties to pro-Congolese government militia groups.[ii]

Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia  

Nothing significant to report.  

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

Pro-Congolese government forces repelled an attack by M23-aligned militia fighters near Minembwe town in Fizi district in South Kivu. The Congolese army (FARDC) and pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters reportedly repelled an M23-aligned Twirwaneho attack to recapture Point Zéro village, about 16 miles east of Minembwe town in Fizi, on February 4.[iii] Point Zéro is a key village with access to several axes in Fizi that pro-Congolese government forces had recaptured from Twirwaneho in an offensive on January 29.[iv] The fighting in Point Zéro and across Fizi has reportedly internally displaced a significant number of people in recent days.[v] The independent Congolese journalist Byobe Malenga reported that clashes between the two sides also occurred in Mikenge village, which is about 15 miles north of Minembwe on the RP527, on February 4.[vi]

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

M23 repelled two Wazalendo attacks and clashed with pro-Congolese government forces north of the RP1030 in Walikale district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd reported that M23 repelled Wazalendo attacks in Rusamambu village in the Ikobo group and in two villages in the Kisimba group in Walikale on February 3.[vii] The Kisimba group is located in a remote area about six miles north of Kalembe on the RP1030 in Masisi district and 10 miles east of Pinga in Walikale. M23 reportedly repelled a separate Wazalendo attack in Bukumbirwa, a remote village in Ikobo near Rusamambu, on February 3.[viii] M23 then reportedly reinforced its positions in Bukumbirwa and Rusamambu from nearby Buleusa village in Ikobo.[ix] Actualite.cd reported separately that the FARDC and Wazalendo fighters repelled an M23 attack on its position in a remote village in the Kisimba group and pushed the rebels back toward Mpombi—two miles north of Mpeti on the RP1030—on February 3.[x]

Wazalendo fighters repelled M23 attacks near the RP1030 in Rutshuru. Wazalendo fighters reportedly repelled M23 attacks in two villages in the Bwito chiefdom in Rutshuru near Mweso village on the RP1030 and pushed the rebels back to Mweso on February 3.[xi] M23 has clashed with Wazalendo fighters frequently near the RP1030 in Masisi and Rutshuru in recent weeks. Wazalendo fighters regularly attack M23 along the RP1030 to try to disrupt the rebels’ supply lines and dislodge them from their positions.

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu  

Nothing significant to report.  

Major Political Developments  

M23 claimed responsibility for a recent drone attack on the Kisangani airport in Tshopo province in the central DRC. The Tshopo provincial government had claimed on February 1 that the FARDC shot down eight one-way attack drones operated by M23 and Rwanda before they reached their target at the Kisangani international airport between January 31 and February 1.[xii] Corneille Nangaa, the head of M23’s political wing, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on social media on February 3.[xiii] M23’s political spokesman, Lawrence Kanyuka, claimed that the group destroyed the airport’s drone command center in the attack in a separate statement on February 3.[xiv] Nangaa and Kanyuka said that the attack on Kisangani as a “rear base” and a “primary hub” for offensive operations on M23-controlled territory was a reprisal attack for pro-Congolese government attacks on its positions and civilians across North and South Kivu that they claimed have escalated since late January.[xv] Nangaa said that M23 would begin preemptively targeting FARDC drone bases and other military installations from which attacks are launched.[xvi] Kanyuka implied that M23 carried out the attack without Rwandan military support using equipment that it captured during its early 2025 offensive in North and South Kivu.[xvii]

The Congolese government and M23 signed a terms of reference agreement for the ceasefire verification mechanism. Delegations from both sides participated in a ceasefire oversight meeting in Doha, the Qatari capital, and signed the agreement on February 2.[xviii] Representatives from the African Union, including Togolese mediation, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), Qatar, the UN, and the United States observed the meeting.[xix] The terms of reference apply to the previously established ICGLR-led ceasefire verification mechanism from mid-October 2025. The readout said that the participants reviewed the plans of UN forces in the DRC and the ICGLR to implement the mechanism.[xx] The participants also agreed that a team from the UN will deploy to Uvira to conduct their first field monitoring mission soon.[xxi] The UN said that it was ready to support the mechanism in a statement on February 4.[xxii] French state media reported on February 3 that the ICGLR aims to operationalize the two parts of the mechanism—the on-the-ground monitoring team and a separate body dedicated to overseeing and adjudicating the mechanism—within 30 days.[xxiii] The M23-aligned Congolese journalist Steve Wembi reported on February 3 that delegations from the Congolese government and M23 plan to soon return to Doha at Qatar’s invitation for separate talks on the peace framework agreement from mid-November 2025.[xxiv]

The African Union (AU) mediators traveled to Uganda for their last stop in their diplomatic tour of the Great Lakes region. Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé and the five AU facilitators traveled to Entebbe, Uganda, to discuss regional peace efforts with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on February 4.[xxv] The facilitators and Gnassingbé had previously traveled to Burundi, Rwanda, and the DRC to meet with their respective presidents as part of their tour that began on January 29.[xxvi]