Congo War Security Review, February 13, 2026

* CTP will be pausing the Congo War Security Review for Presidents' Day in the United States on February 16. The next update will publish as usual on February 18. *

Data Cutoff: February 13, 2026, 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: DRC President Félix Tshisekedi agreed to an Angolan-proposed ceasefire with M23 that would take effect on February 18. The acting head of the UN force in the DRC visited M23-controlled Goma to begin preparations for ceasefire monitoring. The Congolese army and allied forces clashed with M23-aligned militia fighters and captured several villages around Minembwe town in the South Kivu highlands. The Trump administration asked an Australian mining company to sell its stake in a major lithium mine in the DRC to a US company.

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

The Congolese army (FARDC) and allied forces clashed with M23-aligned militia fighters and captured several villages around Minembwe town in the South Kivu highlands. The FARDC and allied forces reportedly clashed with M23-aligned Twirwaneho fighters in numerous villages around Minembwe in Fizi district, including Irundu, Kakenge, and Kalingi—the latter about seven miles from Minembwe center on a local road—between February 10 and 13.[i] The Congolese media outlet Tazama RDC reported that the FARDC and pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters took control of Kalingi and three other villages near Minembwe center on February 11.[ii] M23-aligned media sources reported that the FARDC bombed Kalingi, Bidegu, which is near Kalingi, and several other villages around Minembwe on February 12.[iii]

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

Nothing significant to report. 

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu  

Nothing significant to report. 

Major Political Developments  

DRC President Félix Tshisekedi agreed to an Angolan-proposed ceasefire with M23 that would take effect on February 18. Angolan President João Lourenço had hosted Tshisekedi and African Union mediators—Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé and former Nigerian head of state Olusegun Obasanjo—in the Angolan capital to discuss regional peace efforts on February 9.[iv] The four leaders adopted a joint communiqué that called upon all parties to declare and observe a ceasefire.[v] Angola proposed that the ceasefire come into force at noon on February 18 in a statement on February 12.[vi] Tshisekedi said that he formally accepted the principle of a ceasefire in a statement on February 13.[vii] An insider source told French state media on February 13 that the Congolese government agreed to the February 18 date.[viii] Tshisekedi said that the ceasefire would fall under the framework of the ceasefire verification mechanism agreement and that it must stipulate a “strict and immediate freeze of positions, the cessation of all military reinforcement, the halt of any offensive rotation or supply, the prohibition of any attempt to alter the status quo on the ground, as well as the end of all external support to armed groups” in the eastern DRC.[ix] The Rwandan foreign minister and Corneille Nangaa, M23’s political head, criticized the Angolan proposal in statements on social media on February 12 and 13, respectively.[x] A senior M23 official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on February 12 that M23 would observe a ceasefire if the FARDC “stops firing on us.”[xi] Benjamin Mbonimpa and Oscar Balinda, M23’s respective executive secretary and deputy spokesman, said on February 13 that M23 was “not informed” of the initiative and that the group is solely committed to committments made in Doha.[xii]

The acting head of the UN force in the DRC visited M23-controlled Goma to begin preparations for ceasefire monitoring. The Congolese government and M23 had agreed in a terms of reference agreement in early February that the UN would deploy to Uvira to monitor and help implement the ceasefire mechanism.[xiii] Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, had met with Tshisekedi to discuss the UN’s role in the effort on February 10 and said that the UN is planning a progressive deployment to South Kivu.[xiv] Lacroix said that the UN would begin reconnaissance flights departing from Goma once it receives “security guarantees,” given the presence of jamming and spoofing equipment, anti-air weaponry, and drones.[xv] Lacroix said that a limited ground deployment could follow reconnaissance flights.[xvi] The French magazine Jeune Afrique reported on February 12 that the UN force has been examining plans to redeploy to South Kivu for several weeks.[xvii] Vivian van de Perre, the acting head of the UN force, traveled to Goma via the Goma airport on February 12 and then met with senior M23 officials and various stakeholders to discuss preparations for ceasefire monitoring on February 13.[xviii] AFP journalists noted that the airport “showed no signs” of the heavy fighting that took place in early 2025.[xix] Balinda told local media that Van de Perre’s visit did not mean M23 reopened the airport.[xx] Van de Perre said that the UN will conduct its first aerial reconnaissance flight over Uvira soon.[xxi] Van de Perre reiterated that the UN would deploy any ground force gradually and only after the UN receives security guarantees to protect UN personnel and equipment.[xxii] Jeune Afrique cited several diplomatic sources who said that the UN is leaning toward a “phased and cautious approach” with its monitoring activities, beginning with security guarantees and the unrestricted use of Goma’s airport for reconnaissance flights to map the area first before a ground deployment.[xxiii] The outlet cited an insider source who said that the UN could deploy 200 peacekeepers to the ground in an initial contingent.[xxiv]

Significant US-Backed Regional Economic Activity

The Trump administration asked an Australian mining company to sell its stake in a major lithium mine in the DRC to a US company. Bloomberg reported on February 12 that senior Trump administration officials urged Australian mining giant AVZ Minerals to sell its claim to the Manono lithium deposit in Tanganyika province in southeastern DRC to a US firm in late January.[xxv] The deposit, which is one of the world’s largest reserves of rock lithium, remains unexploited and is one of the major mining projects that the US and DRC have designated as important under the framework of the Washington Accords and the US-backed Lobito corridor initiative.[xxvi] The Congolese government has an ongoing dispute with AVZ’s claims to the project after it annulled and took over AVZ’s mining permit to the southern portion of the deposit in 2023.[xxvii] US-based firm KoBold Metals has expressed interest in taking over AVZ’s claim, said that it would raise more than $1 billion to develop the site, and signed an agreement with the Congolese government to acquire the southern section of the deposit and launch large-scale critical mineral exploration using artificial intelligence in July 2025.[xxviii] Bloomberg reported that Trump officials urged AVZ to settle the matter and transfer its interests to a US firm.[xxix]