
M23 Rebels patrols in the streets of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday.
Brian Inanga / AP
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Brian Inanga / AP
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo – Monday, the M23 rebels supported by Rwandan troops entered the city of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They now took control of the city and Thursday, during their first press conference, said they were “here to stay”.
They raised the prospect of a new expansion of the territory under their control. The Government of the DRC qualified the takeover of “war declaration” by neighboring Rwanda.
Goma, a regional center of more than 2 million people, is on the DRC border with Rwanda. The city was afflicted by reflux and the flow of violence for three decades – collateral damage to conflicts that exploded in eastern Congo after the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The capture of Goma is a spectacular point of more than three years of conflict in the northern province of Kivu. The M23 now threatens to walk “to Kinshasa”, the capital of the DRC, in a conflict that could have seismic impacts across Central Africa. Here’s what you need to know.
What is M23?
The M23 is one of the dozens of armed groups active in the eastern DRC, where the militias sown with chaos for more than three decades.
The conflict is a heritage of wars with several states that took place in the Congo after the Rwandan genocide of 1994, in which up to 1 million people, mainly from the Tutsi ethnic group, were killed by Hutu extremists. The Tutsi rebels led by the current Rwandan president Paul Kagame ended the murder, and many authors of Hutu fled through the border in the Congo.
The M23, or movement of March 23, refers to the date of a previous peace agreement that the group affirms that the Congolese government has not honored. The rebel group, led by Congolese Tutsi commanders, was formed in 2012 and is a successor to the previous rebellions led by Tuts. He briefly captured Goma the same year before being hunted.
Desperately poor, but rich in minerals used in electronics and mobile phones, east of Congo is ethnically diverse. Many militias have origins in specific local communities.

Thursday, people rush to shop in downtown Goma, Congo in Congo
Brian Inanga / AP
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Brian Inanga / AP
After years of sleep in sleep, the M23 relaunched its rebellion in the north of Kivu at the end of 2021, capturing a territory including a key border in Uganda. In January 2022, he had mainly surrounded Goma, leaving a pocket of territory controlled by the government in the city.
The conflict has reflected and sank, the rebels growing further north. This month, he extended to the neighboring province of southern Kivu. He completed the encirclement of Goma and started to push inside the city.
What do rebels want?
M23 leaders say they are fighting to protect ethnic minorities against a DRC government that they accuse of fomenting hatred speech and discrimination. Another key request is the return of Congolese Tutsis refugees, many of whom live in Uganda and Rwanda, Congo.
The DRC government, however, considers M23 as a “puppet” of Rwandan interests. President Felix Tshisekedi promised to take up Goma. “We are going to fight and triumph,” he said in a speech to the nation on Wednesday evening.

A Congolese minor passes through terrestrial rocks to separate the blackcurrant, the main ore transformed into tin, in the city of Nyabibwe, in the east of the Congo, 2012.
Marc Hofer / AP
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Marc Hofer / AP
The region, with its major wealth reserves, offers other opportunities to the rebels. With the capture of Goma, the M23 now has access to a key border city and a critical mineral contraband path to Rwanda. A United Nations report in 2024 estimated that the rebels had introduced the smuggling of at least 150 metric tonnes of Coltan – used in electronics – in Rwanda last year.
How is Rwanda involved?
Rwanda provides significant support for the M23, according to several reports of an independent panel of United Nations experts. He has troops in northern Kivu – up to 4,000, according to reports from the United Nations panel – and his special forces supervise the M23 units. Drone imagery has captured troops regularly crossing the border in territory controlled by M23 for years.
Rwanda has also deployed high -tech military equipment on the battlefield in northern Kivu, especially as mobile air defense systems and precision guided ammunition.
The United Nations, including members of the Security Council such as the United States, France and the United Kingdom, agree that the Rwandan forces operate in Congo. The government of Rwanda, however, has never admitted publicly being involved.
Rwanda says conflict has deeper roots that should be treated. They say that militias such as democratic forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebellious Hutu group which includes some of the Rwandan genocide officials, are still active in eastern Congo. Rwanda accuses the Congolese army of fighting alongside it, an accusation that the Congolese deny.

People who crossed the Congo are waiting for help to Gyseny, Rwanda on Tuesday, following the progress of the M23 rebels in the capital of the eastern Congo Goma.
Yuhi Irakiza / AP
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Yuhi Irakiza / AP
What’s at stake?
The humanitarian impact of the M23 conflict was enormous. More than a million people have been moved over the years, with hundreds of thousands of campsite in disastrous conditions on the outskirts of Goma. Sexual violence, hunger and disease afflict camps, despite the efforts of aid groups.
The conflict now threatens a spiral, increasing the spectrum of a replay of the two Congo wars – between 1996 and 1997, and 1998 and in the early 2000s – which, according to various researchers, led to 3 million to more than 5 million dead. During these two wars, nine African nations and around twenty armed groups fought, with the Second Congo War in particular considered one of the deadliest conflicts in history.
What to follow?
The M23 and Rwandan troops move further in the province of southern Kivu, according to local relationships on the ground. The UN and the others fear that there is a decision in the city of Bukavu, which is also on the Rwandan border.
The DRC government has repeatedly called for international sanctions against Rwanda for supporting the M23. So far, African and international diplomacy has had little impact.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Rwanda President Kagame that the United States was “deeply troubled” by fighting. Countries including the United Kingdom and Germany have threatened to cancel Aid in Rwanda. But the fighting still continues.