Congo War Security Review, March 30, 2026

Data Cutoff: March 30, 2026, at 1 P.M. EST

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Key Takeaway: The Congolese army announced imminent military operations under its obligations to the Washington Peace Accords. The Doha process will reportedly relocate to Switzerland in April. M23 withdrew from additional positions in Lubero district in North Kivu. M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters in southern Masisi district in North Kivu.

Kinetic Activity in M23-Controlled Areas    

Nothing significant to report.  

Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia  

M23 withdrew from additional positions in Lubero district in North Kivu. Pro-Congolese government journalists reported on social media that M23 forces withdrew from Pitakongo and Bunyatenge villages in Lubero on March 28.[1] CTP is unable to verify the location of Pitakongo. Bunyatenge is a remote gold mining village approximately 17 miles west of Bingi in southern Lubero on a local road. CTP reported previously that M23 withdrew from at least a dozen positions near the front line in northern Lubero between March 23 and 24.[2] Officials installed by M23 under a parallel administration reportedly left these areas, and Wazalendo fighters have reoccupied numerous villages in recent days.[3]

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

M23 claimed that the Congolese army (FARDC) and allied forces conducted drone attacks on M23-aligned militia fighters in the South Kivu highlands. M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka claimed in a statement on social media on March 30 that the FARDC and allied forces conducted attacks using one-way attack (OWA) drones on M23-aligned Twirwaneho fighters in two villages in the highlands around Minembwe, including Mikenke—about 15 miles north of Minembwe on the RP527—between March 29 and March 30.[4] M23 and M23-aligned media sources had claimed that the FARDC conducted previous OWA drone attacks on Twirwaneho positions in Mikenge and around Minembwe town between March 24 and 27.[5]

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani 

M23 clashed with pro-Congolese government Wazalendo fighters in southern Masisi district in North Kivu. The pro-Congolese government media outlet Tazama RDC reported that M23 clashed with Wazalendo fighters and recaptured two villages in the Katoyi sector, including Mitimingi, in southern Masisi around March 27.[6] Mitimingi is in a remote area in Katoyi, about 26 miles southwest of Rubaya on local roads.

M23 recaptured two villages southwest of Masisi town. M23 reportedly attacked Wazalendo fighters and recaptured three villages in the Nyamaboko group, including Mukohwa, on March 29.[7] Mukohwa is about 18 miles southwest of Masisi on a local road, near the border with Walikale district. The FARDC and Wazalendo fighters reportedly repelled separate M23 attacks on their positions in Ngululu and Kazinga villages, the latter of which is about five miles northwest of Mukohwa toward Masisi town, on March 29.[8] The FARDC and Wazalendo fighters had recaptured Kazinga from M23 in early March.[9]

Fighting between M23 and Wazalendo fighters also took place north of the RP1030 in Walikale district in North Kivu. Wazalendo fighters reportedly retook control of Mpeti village on the RP1030 in Walikale on March 29, after M23 had withdrawn from the area on March 26.[10] The Congolese media outlet Les Volcans reported that M23 repelled a Wazalendo attack in Ihula village in the Kisimba group in Walikale district in North Kivu on March 28.[11] Ihula is in a remote area north of Kalembe on the RP1030 and about 19 miles east of Mpeti. M23 reportedly retook control of two villages that they had withdrawn from under Wazalendo military pressure in the Ikobo group, which is north of Kisimba—including Kanune, west of Kanyabayonga in Lubero district and about 15 miles northeast of Mpeti in a remote forested area—on March 28.[12]

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu  

Nothing significant to report.  

Major Political Developments  

The FARDC announced imminent military operations under its obligations to the Washington Peace Accords. General Jacques Ychaligonza, the FARDC Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of operations and intelligence, said on March 29 that he deployed to Kisangani in the central DRC to launch the start of operations against the the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR).[13] Ychaligonza said that the FDLR must disarm “whether willingly or by force.”[14] Ychaligonza said that the FARDC mobilized three battalions for  operations to track down and neutralize FDLR militants.[15] Ychaligonza said that the FARDC would intern the FDLR fighters in a military camp in Kisangani in the central DRC as a result of successful operations, before repatriating them to Rwanda.[16]

The Doha process will reportedly relocate to Switzerland in April. The Congolese government and M23 will reportedly resume peace talks in Switzerland under the framework of the Doha process in mid-April.[17] The Congolese foreign minister had said on March 25 that the process has been “paralyzed” in part due to constraints on Qatar’s ability to host the talks amid the war in the Middle East.[18]

Significant US-Backed Regional Economic Activity

Nothing significant to report.