Congo War Security Review, February 23, 2026

Data Cutoff: February 23, 2026, at 1 P.M. EST

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Key Takeaway: The Congolese army (FARDC) and pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters launched an offensive against M23 on several axes in southern Masisi district in North Kivu. Burundi opened its border post with Uvira town in South Kivu after more than two months of closure. Fighting between the FARDC and allied forces and M23-aligned militia fighters continued around Minembwe town in the South Kivu highlands. M23 reportedly conducted a large-scale cordon and search operation in Rutshuru district in North Kivu.

Kinetic Activity in M23-Controlled Areas    

M23 reportedly conducted a large-scale cordon and search operation in Rutshuru district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Radio Okapi reported that M23 conducted the operation in Kishishe village in the Bambo group in Bwito chiefdom in Rutshuru on February 21.[1] Kishishe is on the edge of Bwito near the Virunga National Park, about six miles north of Bambo town. The outlet cited a local official who claimed that M23 arrested around 270 people suspected of collaborating with pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters and militants from the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR).[2] Radio Okapi reported previously that Wazalendo and FDLR fighters had conducted incursions and clashed with M23 in Kibirizi village—10 miles north of Kishishe—and in Bambo on February 16.[3] M23 had attacked and clashed with Wazalendo fighters using heavy weaponry in several areas near Kilama village, about two miles north of Kishishe, for three days between February 8 and 11.[4] The fighting in Kilama followed a Wazalendo-FDLR attack on M23 in Kibirizi on February 8, which had led to an M23 counterattack with heavy weaponry in nearby Kahumiro village.[5]

Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia  

Nothing significant to report.  

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

Fighting between the Congolese army (FARDC) and allied forces and M23-aligned militia fighters continued around Minembwe town in the South Kivu highlands. CTP reported previously that the FARDC, reinforced by Wazalendo fighters and Burundian army (FDNB) contingents, had clashed with M23-aligned militia fighters, mainly from Twirwaneho, in several areas around Minembwe in Fizi district between February 17 and 20.[6] Significant fighting between the two sides reportedly occurred between February 21 and 23.[7] The French state media outlet Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported on February 23 that the FARDC and allied forces dislodged Twirwaneho from several positions around Minembwe in the last week.[8] The FARDC spokesman told RFI that allied forces had recently recaptured several villages around Minembwe.[9] RFI cited local sources who said that pro-Congolese government ground units are receiving “significant air support” in its offensive against Twirwaneho, including with attack drones.[10] M23 and M23-aligned sources claimed that pro-Congolese government forces bombed several villages around Minembwe using attack drones and heavy artillery on February 22 and 23.[11] Civil society and humanitarian sources in Fizi told RFI on February 23 that more than 200,000 civilians have fled the Minembwe area due to the fighting since early February.[12]

M23 clashed with Wazalendo fighters near the Kavumu airport in South Kivu. Clashes between the two sides reportedly broke out north of Bukavu in Kavumu on the RN2 in Kabare district on February 21.[13] M23 reportedly repelled an incursion in the town by Wazalendo elements who came from the Kahuzi-Biega National Park on February 22.[14]

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani  

The FARDC and Wazalendo fighters launched an offensive against M23 on several axes in southern Masisi district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Tazama RDC reported that a Rwandan army unit that was active in the Katoyi sector in southern Masisi and based in Kanyaru, about five miles south of Rubaya on a local road, withdrew from the area around February 16.[15] Wazalendo fighters then launched at least two separate offensives on lines of advance toward Rubaya town, a major M23-controlled mining hub, and Ngungu—an important village in the first Ufamandu group in the Bahunde chiefdom. A Wazalendo group reportedly captured at least five villages west of Ngungu in the Ufamandu first group, including Miruta and Ngololo, on February 20.[16] A separate Wazalendo group reportedly dislodged M23 from a village in the Kibabi group in Bahunde and several villages in the Katoyi sector, including the main town in Katoyi—roughly 25 miles southwest of Rubaya on local roads—on February 20, after four days of fighting that began around February 16.[17] Kibabi-center is about five miles west of Rubaya. M23-aligned independent journalist Héritier Munyampfura reported on February 22 that additional FARDC units that deployed to Masisi via Kimuwa, a remote FARDC airfield in eastern Walikale district, are leading the offensive.[18] M23 reportedly conducted counterattacks in Ufamandu and pushed Wazalendos back from Kashovu and Lumbishi villages near the border with South Kivu around February 22.[19] Wazalendo fighters reportedly advanced on the Rubaya axis and captured M23 fighters and weaponry as they took control of several more villages in the Kibabi group, including Kasenyi, Kinigi, and Chugi, on February 21 and 22.[20] M23 and M23-aligned journalist Steve Wembi accused the FARDC of indiscriminately bombing civilians in Kibabi on February 22.[21] M23 reportedly reinforced its positions in Kibabi and repositioned an artillery unit on a hill north of Rubaya to block the advance and bomb positions that Wazalendos had captured around Kibabi.[22] Fighting was also reported in Luke village, about 15 miles northwest of Rubaya near the Kibabi group, on February 22.[23] Fighting on the Rubaya and Ngungu axes in the Katoyi, Luke, and Kibabi areas reportedly continued on February 23.[24] Wazalendo fighters reportedly dislodged M23 from Kaniro, north of the Kibabi group and about eight miles south of the Katale airfield, on February 23.[25] Tazama RDC cited local sources in Rubaya who claimed that M23’s top commander, Sultani Makenga, went to the town to “personally oversee operations” on February 23.[26] The outlet reported that Wazalendo fighters pushed an M23 unit back from Kinigi toward Kibabi-center on February 23.[27] The Congolese media outlet Kivu Morning Post reported on February 23 that M23 still controls Kinigi, however.[28] Hundreds of civilians have reportedly fled toward Kibabi, Ngungu, and Rubaya due to the FARDC-Wazalendo offensive in recent days.[29]

M23 attacked Wazalendo fighters north of the RP1030 in Walikale district in North Kivu. The Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd reported that M23 conducted attacks on two enemy positions and clashed with Wazalendo fighters near Katobi village on the RP1030 on February 21 and 22.[30] Katobi is about two miles west of Mpeti, M23’s forward position on the RP1030, and the last significant village before Pinga nine miles further west on the RP1030. Actualite.cd reported separately that M23 had reinforced its positions in Mpeti and nearby Minjenje village on the RP1030 on February 22.[31]

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu  

Nothing significant to report.  

Major Political Developments 

Burundi opened its border post with Uvira town in South Kivu after more than two months of closure. Burundian and Congolese authorities reopened the Gatumba border post that links Bujumbura, Burundi’s economic capital, with Uvira via the Kavimvira post in Uvira on February 23.[32] RFI reported that almost 10,000 Congolese civilians crossed the border into the DRC on February 23.[33] Burundian authorities had closed its border with the DRC after M23 captured Uvira in its early December 2025 offensive.

Significant US-Backed Regional Economic Activity

Nothing significant to report.