This is the second town seized by the M23 group in as many days in the mineral-rich North Kivu province.

The group has taken control of vast swathes of eastern DR Congo since 2021, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Angola has been attempting to mediate talks between President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame. But these broke down last month.

“It is with dismay that we learn of the capture of Masisi centre by the M23,” Alexis Bahunga, a member of North Kivu provincial assembly, told journalists. He said this “plunges the territory into a serious humanitarian crisis” and urged the government to strengthen the capacity of the army in the region.

One resident told AFP that the M23 had held a meeting of the town’s inhabitants, saying they had “come to liberate the country”.

The Congolese authorities have not yet commented on the loss of the town.

Masisi, which has a population of about 40,000, is the capital of the territory of the same name.

It is about 80km (50 miles) north of the North Kivu provincial capital Goma, which the M23 briefly occupied in 2012.

On Friday, the M23 captured the nearby town of Katale.

Last year, there were fears that the M23 would once again march on Goma, a city of about two million people.

However, there was then a lull in fighting until early December when fighting resumed.

In July, Rwanda did not deny a UN report saying it had about 4,000 soldiers fighting alongside the M23 in DR Congo.

It accused the Congolese government of not doing enough to tackle decades of conflict in the east of the country. Rwanda has previously said the authorities in DR Congo were working with some of those responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide against ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The M23, formed as an offshoot of another rebel group, began operating in 2012 ostensibly to protect the Tutsi population in the east of DR Congo which had long complained of persecution and discrimination.

However, Rwanda’s critics accuse it of using the M23 to loot eastern DR Congo’s minerals such as gold, cobalt and tantalum, which are used to make mobile phones and batteries for electric cars.

Last month, DR Congo said it was suing Apple over the use of such “blood minerals”, prompting the tech giant to say it had stopped getting supplies from both countries.

By BBC News

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Acting on behalf of the Congolese government, lawyers have argued that Apple is complicit in crimes committed by armed groups that control some of the mines in the east of DR Congo.

Apple has said it “strongly disputes” the claims and that it is “deeply committed to responsible sourcing” of minerals.

The authorities in France and Belgium will now look at whether there is enough evidence to take the legal action further.

In a statement, the lawyers for the DR Congo talked about Apple’s supply chain being contaminated with “blood minerals”.

They allege that the tin, tantalum and tungsten is taken from conflict areas and then “laundered through international supply chains”.

“These activities have fuelled a cycle of violence and conflict by financing militias and terrorist groups and have contributed to forced child labour and environmental devastation.”

Apple rejected the accusations saying it holds its “suppliers to the highest standards in industry”.

A spokesman told the BBC: “As conflict in the region escalated earlier this year we notified our suppliers that their smelters and refiners must suspend sourcing tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold from the DRC and Rwanda.

“We took this action because we were concerned it was no longer possible for independent auditors or industry certification mechanisms to perform the due diligence required to meet our high standards.”

The east of DR Congo is a major source of minerals and the global thirst for them has fuelled wars there for decades.

Rights groups have long alleged that large quantities of minerals from legitimate mines, as well as from facilities run by armed groups, are transported to neighbouring Rwanda and end up in our phones and computers.

Rwanda has in the past described the Congolese government’s legal action against Apple as a media stunt.

It has denied selling any conflict minerals to the tech company.

By BBC News

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The health ministry says the majority of people who have died are between the ages of 15 and 18.

More than 300 people have been infected with patients exhibiting symptoms like fever, headaches, runny noses and coughs, breathing difficulties and anaemia.

Response teams have been sent to Kwango Province, specifically the Panzi health zone, where the disease is most common, to manage cases and investigate the nature of the disease.

Cephorien Manzanza, a civil society leader, told Reuters news agency the situation was worrying as the number of infected people continues to rise.

“Panzi is a rural health zone, so there is a problem with the supply of medicines,” he said.

A World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa region official told the BBC they have “dispatched a team to the remote area to collect samples for lab investigations”.

Authorities have urged the population to remain calm and vigilant.

They urged people to wash their hands with soap, avoid mass gatherings, and avoid touching the bodies of the deceased without qualified health personnel.

A local MP told Top Congo Radio that about 67 people had fallen sick and died between 10 and 26 November.

“It should be noted that Panzi hospital is short of medicines to cope with this epidemic. We really need assistance,” said the MP.

The central African country has also been dealing with a severe outbreak of mpox. Between January and July this year, they recorded about 14,500 infections.

DR Congo has also dealt with bouts of Ebola over the years.

By BBC News

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The inspection, which is conducted biannually to assess each contingent’s ability to fulfill MONUSCO’s mandate, concluded on Thursday, November 7, 2024.

This latest OEI evaluated the Kenyan Quick Reaction Force (KENQRF 4) across multiple critical areas, including operational readiness, training, communication capabilities, welfare, and adherence to the UN mandate and code of conduct.

The inspection, led by Lt Col Walter Rosa Barbiza and Maj Gouravendra Pratap Singh Parmar from MONUSCO Force Headquarters in Goma, involved both theoretical and practical assessments, the Kenya Defence Forces said.

Kenyan troops demonstrated their capability through exercises in camp defense, security patrols, and medical evacuation, showcasing a deep understanding of MONUSCO’s core goals, including civilian protection, disarmament, and security sector reform.

Lt. Col. Rosa commended the troops, noting their exceptional preparedness and encouraging them to continue honing their skills.

Lt. Col. Simon Seda, KENQRF’s Contingent Commander, praised the troops for their dedication and urged them to continually build their professional knowledge and competence.

This successful inspection highlights the commitment and effectiveness of Kenyan troops in supporting peace and stability in the DRC.

Meanwhile, he outgoing Officer Commanding (OC) of Kenya Signals II Company (KENSIG II Coy), Maj Paul Chacha, along with the incoming OC of KENSIG III Coy, Maj Stephen Otieno, paid a courtesy visit to MONUSCO Acting Force Commander, Maj Gen Khar Diouf, at MONUSCO Force Headquarters in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Maj Gen Diouf commended Maj Chacha for his professionalism and for the exemplary conduct of KENSIG personnel during their deployment.

He highlighted KENSIG’s valuable role in providing critical communication support in both routine and urgent operations, acknowledging specific instances where their contributions positively impacted the mission.

He also encouraged the incoming team to uphold the high standards of professionalism and commitment demonstrated by their predecessors, ensuring a smooth transition during the rotation period.

The troops are part of a UN team in the region to stabilize the area from rebels.

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In a statement posted on X early on Tuesday, Interior Minister Shabani Lukoo said prisoners attempted the break out on Monday amid a fire that hit the building’s administrative buildings including the infirmary.

“The provisional toll is 129 dead, including 24 by gunfire, after warning,” Lukoo said in a statement posted on X, adding that some 59 people were injured.

He said there was “significant material damage.”

Lukoo said he was holding a “crisis” meeting with the defence and security services, but that calm had been restored.

Makala prison is the largest in the DRC and was built to hold 1,500 prisoners.

It currently has between 14,000 and 15,000 detainees, according to official figures. Most of them are people awaiting trial, Amnesty International said in its most recent country report on the DRC.

The prison has recorded previous jailbreaks, including in 2017 when more than 4,000 prisoners escaped from the facility after an attack by armed men at night.

Authorities had been trying to reduce overcrowding, with dozens of inmates released in recent months.

There was no public comment on Monday’s incident from Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who is in China on an official visit.

Justice Minister Constant Mutamba called the attack a “premeditated act of sabotage” carried out to undermine efforts to improve the condition of prisons.

“Investigations are underway to identify and severely punish those who instigated these acts of sabotage. They will receive a stern response,” Mutamba said.

He also announced a ban on the transfer of inmates from the prison and said authorities would build a new prison, among other efforts to reduce overcrowding.

By Agencies

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The incident happened at the Stade de Martyrs stadium in the north of the city during a concert by Congolese gospel singer Mike Kalambayi on Saturday.

State broadcasters RTNC said on X that there had been “seven deaths and several people admitted to intensive care”.

“Overflows and crowd movements” at the stadium “resulted in the death of men”, the cabinet of Kinshasa governor Daniel Bumba said in a statement late on Saturday.

The stadium has a capacity for 80,000 people.

Event organisers Maajabu Gospel said 30,000 people had attended the concert.

“It is with deep sadness that we learned of the deaths of our compatriots who lost their lives, while the security services were trying to neutralise some troublemakers,” Maajabu Gospel said in a statement.

AFP contacted local authorities but did not immediately receive a response.

A stampede in 2022 in the same stadium left eleven people dead, including nine spectators and two police officers.

That incident happened during a concert by African music star Fally Ipupa.

By AFP

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Thirty years on, Kagame faces no serious challenge to his rule and is expected to be re-elected for a fourth term. Critics accuse the president of repressing the opposition domestically. However, Kagame is also loved by many Rwandans, young and old alike. Many praise the longtime leader for reuniting the country after the genocide and setting it on a path of economic growth.

Yet, as Kagame seeks re-election, tense relations with Rwanda’s bigger neighbour, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), remain a deepening challenge for both countries and the broader region, say analysts.

Escalating tensions between the two, intensified by a United Nations report released last week, risk snowballing into a wider regional conflict, some fear.

In eastern DRC, M23 rebels, an armed group formed largely of Rwandans, are engaged in a deadly offensive with the Congolese military that has led to a massive humanitarian and displacement crisis and subsequent mediation efforts by regional leaders.

According to the UN expert group report, 3,000 to 4,000 Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) members are fighting alongside the M23 in DRC. A previous UN report accused Kigali of supporting and aiding M23. This time, though, the experts said Rwanda is the “de facto” leader of the group. RDF operations, it added, “extended beyond mere support” but encompassed “direct and decisive involvement”. Uganda, an ally of Kigali, is also accused of aiding M23’s movements.

Valtino Omolo, a researcher at the Institute for Strategic Studies (ISS), told Al Jazeera the UN report “[could] possibly lead to increased international actions against Rwanda, such as economic and diplomatic sanctions”.

All parties, including M23, RDF and the Congolese forces tortured and executed civilians seen as supporting their opponents, the 293-page report detailed. Gold from the mineral-rich eastern DRC was also smuggled across into Rwanda and Uganda, it alleged.

Rwanda’s government did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on the allegations, but has repeatedly, in the past, rejected such allegations. Government spokesperson Yolanda Makolo did not outrightly deny RDF’s presence in the DRC while speaking to reporters last week, but pointed to Kinshasa’s support for an anti-Kagame Rwandan rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

“The DRC has all the power to de-escalate the situation if they want to, but until then, Rwanda will continue to defend itself,” Makolo said.

“The question we should be asking ourselves is why Rwanda is not being sanctioned for violation of our territory,” Wagner told Al Jazeera.

A long, intertwined history

The three-decade-long conflict in eastern DRC is closely linked with the Rwandan genocide, during which members of the Hutu ethnic group killed some 800,000-1,000,000 mainly Tutsis over 100 days in 1994.

Rwanda, with Uganda, invaded the DRC in 1996 and then again in 1998, sparking the two Congo wars. Both claimed the pursuit of rebels hiding in eastern DRC. Kigali was after the Hutu militias that fled Kagame’s Tutsi forces after the genocide and amassed in refugee camps in the DRC to launch incursions. However, Kigali is also accused of using the wars as a pretext to loot the DRC’s plentiful minerals.

Instability in eastern DRC led to the emergence of a hoard of armed groups battling to control the mineral-rich region. Alongside the M23, between 120 to 140 rebel groups are active in the country. A 15,000-member-strong UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO – deployed since 1999, did not deter the groups. This February, the peacekeepers began their withdrawal after a frustrated President Felix Tshisekedi said they had failed to protect Congolese.

M23 is the biggest threat Kinshasa currently faces. When it first emerged with ferocious force in 2012, the group seized swaths of territory in the east, including the key city of Goma, capital of North Kivu province. It claims to be fighting for the rights of minority Congolese Tutsis, whose ancestors arrived from Rwanda generations ago. Members say they face discrimination in DRC for their ethnic links to Rwanda’s Tutsi community. Local politicians, in the past, questioned their citizenship, for example. Experts say that treatment has pushed many to join groups like M23, even as the rebels’ actions intensify a negative perception of Tutsis.

M23’s first rebellion was crushed. But in late 2021, it re-emerged, accusing Kinshasa of reneging on promises to integrate fighters into the army. It now controls several towns and last week seized Kanyabayonga, a four-hour drive from Goma. The UN said the group’s advances, aided by the RDF, have benefitted from advanced weaponry and that it has grounded all air assets of the Congolese military.

Victoire Inagbire, a high-profile Rwandan opposition politician, said the UN’s allegations against Rwanda were “frightening” and raised questions for Rwandans.

“Why and under what mandate our soldiers would be sent to fight in DRC? If this is true … it reinforces the undemocratic process in Rwanda governance that I have always denounced,” Inagbire, who is one of several intending presidential candidates barred from the Rwandan elections, told Al Jazeera.

Rwandan officials, including Kagame, often point to Kinshasa’s support for the FDLR, the Hutu rebel group fighting alongside Congolese forces. FDLR and Nyatura, a group of Hutu militias, are accused of persecuting Congolese Tutsis.

Rwandan officials have also said Kinshasa does not address general discrimination against Tutsis, including hate speech. Tshisekedi said in a speech to the UN last year that his government “stands firm against any individual or group of individuals who would engage in such a speech and reiterates its request to every person, organisation or external partner to denounce it”.

Meanwhile, the regional Eastern African Community (EAC) trade bloc has struggled to mediate. Peace talks it brokered have failed. A Kenya-led EAC intervention force Tshisekedi requested in 2022 lasted only a year before being asked not to return because it refused to go on the offensive.

Also Read: Suspect in Kware Murders Confessed to Killing Wife, Disposing of Body – DCI Amin

It has been replaced by a new 2,900-member-strong force from the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This mission’s troops comprise peacekeepers from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi.

Hopes for peace?

In Rwanda, the trouble across the border is not on the list of key concerns for voters this week. Most pressing for many is the rising cost of living as food inflation pummels the country.

But the effects of the violence are not invisible. Amid the conflict next door, thousands of Congolese have been forced to flee their homes into Rwandan towns, adding to a refugee burden on the small country.

“War generates losses in human life and also affects economic development, especially cross-border trading,” said Inagbire, the opposition politician.

In the DRC’s Goma, displaced people’s camps are swelling, even as diseases like measles and cholera sweep through. Aid groups have ceased sending food and other supplies to M23-controlled towns like Kanyabayonga because of security risks posed by the heavy fighting.

A two-week humanitarian truce from July 4 to July 19 was brokered by the US to allow humanitarian access to vulnerable people and allow some displaced to return; however, attacks have continued.

Last year, when presidential campaigns were under way in the DRC’s election, combating Rwanda was a hot-button topic. In his re-election campaigns, Tshisekedi verbally attacked Kagame, calling him ‘Adolf Hitler’ and threatening to take the war to Kigali’s doorstep.

In his responses, Kagame has been more measured, but he said Rwanda was “ready for anything”.

Addressing historical ethnic-linked grievances and bolstering non-military solutions in the troubled eastern DRC will be critical, alongside foreign missions, said Omolo of ISS. The AU launched a disarmament and reintegration programme for ex-fighters in 2011. The bloc last year said it would continue to back locally-led peace solutions.

Regional leaders need to step up too, Omolo said.

“The role of dialogue and diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation should be highly prioritised, especially by the EAC. Both countries have more to lose than there is to gain in pursuing armed conflict. Regional stability remains paramount,” he added.

By Aljazeera.

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The Butembo military court in North Kivu province handed the sentences down on Wednesday, deeming them guilty of fleeing the enemy, dissipation of war munitions and violation of orders.

“I find them guilty and sentence each of them to death,” said Colonel Kabeya Ya Hanu, president of the military court.

The tribunal was set up close to the scene of recent clashes between the Congolese army and M23 fighters with the aim of discouraging soldiers from fleeing the front line.

A total of 31 defendants, including 27 soldiers and four of their civilian wives, appeared before the military court during the one-day trial, said Jules Muvweko, one of the defence lawyers.

The four women were acquitted while one soldier was sentenced to 10 years’ jail for robbery. The verdict for the last soldier was unclear.

‘Weaken our military’

In early May, eight Congolese soldiers, including five officers, were sentenced to death in Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, for “cowardice” and “fleeing the enemy”.

Moise Hangi, a human rights activist, noted DRC’s government only recently lifted a moratorium on the death penalty that was in place since 2003.

Also Read: Sakaja Denies Hiring Goons Who Razed City Hall During Protests

“We are in danger of reaching the point where many military personnel are going to be candidates for this decision, rather than improving our security apparatus. This kind of decision will increasingly weaken our military and give more fear to those on all the front lines,” Hangi said.

Last week, M23 – the March 23 movement, which the United Nations claims is backed by Rwanda – seized several towns on the northern front of the conflict. Rwanda denies any involvement.

Its recent gains include the strategic town of Kanyabayonga, which is seen as a gateway to the major commercial centres of Butembo and Beni.

Faced with the combined might of the Rwandan army and M23, Congolese troops have repeatedly retreated without a fight, news reports say.

“Many units have less than half the number of soldiers they are supposed to have due to desertions and casualties,” said Jason Stearns, a former UN investigator who now runs the Congo Research Group at New York University. “Above all, there is a lack of accountability and morale.”

M23 has seized vast swaths of territory, almost completely encircling Goma, and killed scores of people. There are already 2.8 million displaced people in North Kivu, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

DR Congo’s mineral-rich east has been racked by fighting between both local and foreign-based armed groups for the past three decades, the conflict having spilled over from the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s.

Last March, the Congolese government lifted the moratorium on the death penalty that had been in force since 2003 in the country.

‘Every officer is afraid’

Successive Congolese governments and UN peacekeeping missions have struggled to quell violence in the east, where more than 100 armed groups are fighting over land and minerals, including rich deposits of gold and coltan, essential for making mobile phones.

Some have received backing from DRC’s eastern neighbours, which have a history of intervening in the region.

The eight officers convicted at a well-publicised court martial in May stared blankly as a colonel in a black beret declared them guilty of cowardice for abandoning their posts.

Defence lawyer Alexis Olenga rejected the charge, saying the battalion commander, Colonel Patient Mushengezi, was being treated in Goma for high blood pressure at the time, while his men left to replenish their ammunition when another unit failed to deliver the supplies.

A growing number of arrests is spreading fear and distrust in the military, army officers told Reuters news agency.

“Even our greatest fighters have been put in prison for mere rumours,” an unnamed military intelligence officer was quoted as saying. “Every officer who comes in is afraid.”

By Agencies.

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The Cooperative for the Development of the Congo (CODECO) group, one of many armed groups operating in the conflict-ridden east, carried out the killings in Djugu territory on Thursday and Friday, two local community leaders told Reuters.

“Most of the victims were killed with machetes, but those who tried to flee were shot. In all these villages, people’s belongings were taken, and houses were burnt down,” said Vital Tungulo, president of Djugu’s Nyali-Kilo community.

The motive for the attacks was not clear but militia violence in Congo is linked to long-running competition for influence and the region’s rich mineral resources.

The human rights situation in Ituri has deteriorated since the beginning of the year as CODECO carries out more attacks, the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) said in a report published in March.

The army spokesperson in Ituri, Jules Ngongo Tshikudi, confirmed the attacks, describing them as unacceptable.

CODECO and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), another militia, are responsible for most civilian killings in eastern DRC, according to a report by the U.N. peacekeeping mission released in March.

It was not possible to reach CODECO for comment on the latest attacks.

Local resident and community leader Daniel Anikumu said they had started burying those killed, including the burial of 11 people in a mass grave in the village of Gangala.

By Agencies

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