While the whole world is busy in solving Israel-Palestine conflict and Russia-Ukraine War, currently people in Congo are being killed, raped, maimed, or forced to leave their homes and take refuge in different states. This is because of the rapid advancement by the M23 fighters from Rwanda to capture the mineral-rich belt of Congo, which is the Eastern Congo. This conflict escalated by December 2024 after peace talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda failed over disagreements about M23. In January, the M23 seized control of major cities, which includes Buvaku, which is the capital of South Kivu, and Goma, which is the capital of North Kivu, home to more than 2 million people. This ongoing conflict has resulted in the deaths of around 7000 people, and around 800,000 people have been displaced from their homes and taken refuge in nearby bordering countries. According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 100,000 refugees have crossed into neighbouring countries since 1st January. These numbers would increase only and not decrease in the coming days. So now the question that comes to everyone’s mind is: What is this conflict all about? How did it start? What is this M23? To explain this, we have to go to a brief history of how they started.

The Rwandan Genocide happened in 1994 between Hutus and Tutsis from April to July, which resulted in the death of about 800,000 to 1 million Tutsis, opposition and moderate Hutus within 100 days. As many as 2 million people fled the country because of this violence. This genocide was instigated by a group of extreme Hutu leaders, and their goal was to kill Tutsi people, who were in the minority in the country. The genocide ended when Paul Kagame, an army leader from a rebel group called Rwandan Patriotic Front, took control. After he took over control, around 2 million Hutus fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (then known as Zaire). The large influx of refugees and militant groups posed a problem for Congo, which led to a rise of tensions between them and resulted in a breakout of two major wars between them. The first war lasted from 24th October 1996 to 16th May 1997. This war resulted in the overthrow of Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. He was replaced by Laurent Kabila, who came to power with the help of Rwandan forces that helped him overthrow Mobutu. The second war erupted when Laurent Kabila turned against his former allies from Rwanda and Uganda, which began on 2nd August, 1998 and lasted till 18th July, 2003. This war resulted in the assassination of Laurent Kabila in 2001. After the death of Laurent Kabila, his son, Joseph Kabila, took over the mantle of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He remained in power until 2019, when Felix Tshisekedi won a disputed election. Many people believed that played a role in helping Tshisekedi’s ascent to power. Meanwhile, in Rwanda, Paul Kagame became president in April 2000 and has since led the country for nearly 25 years. Meanwhile, in Rwanda, Paul Kagame became president in April 2000 and has led the country for nearly 25 years. He has focused from the start to rebuild Rwanda after the wounds of the genocide and boost its economy, achieving remarkable progress. As the whole world is on their way to develop technologically, Congo and its neighbours remained entangled with their internal conflicts.

By the 2010s, the push for clean energy led to advancements in battery technology, especially for cars, which are expected to run on renewable sources. These batteries rely on minerals, which are found and mined in Eastern Congo, like cobalt, tantalum, tin, and tungsten. However, mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo comes at a heavy cost. Workers face dangerous conditions, low wages, as well as toxic exposure, while even children are forced to labour. This issue isn’t new; the Democratic Republic of Congo has long experienced this kind of resource exploitation, from rubber and ivory in the past to today’s minerals. Armed groups also profit from mining, which stimulates conflict and instability in the region. Now, let’s talk about M23. What is this group, and how did it come to power?

M23 is a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo that was created in 2012 by former Congolese soldiers, who were mostly from the Tutsi community, with its leader, Sultani Makenga, who previously fought in the Rwandan army, at its head. The name comes from a peace deal, which was signed on 23rd March, 2009, between the government and another rebel group called CNDP. The main purpose was to bring the rebels into the national army, but later, M23 accused the government of breaking its promises and started the violence again. In 2012, M23 captured Goma, which was a key city in Eastern Congo, but were soon defeated and forced to escape in 2013. After almost ten years of silence, they re-emerged in 2021 and have been actively fighting since then. According to the United Nations (UN), Rwanda is helping M23 with troops and weapons, though Rwanda denies any sort of involvement with them. In the last couple of years, M23 has seized several lucrative mining areas, and by the reports of UN reports that around 120 tonnes of coltan were sent out of Rwanda by the M23 every four weeks. Before April 2024, the M23 militia made money by charging fees on minerals smuggled into Rwanda. But in late April, they captured a mine near Rubaya town in North Kivu province. After that, instead of relying on smugglers, they began mining minerals directly for the first time. On March 19th 2025, the rebels captured the mining hub Walikale in North Kivu.

The current situation in key cities is highly volatile, and around 2 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. If we see, by the end of 2024, armed conflicts, rising food prices and epidemics have pushed around 25 million people into acute food shortages. The UN has also been running a peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known as MONUSCO, consisting of over 10,000 soldiers. However, only a specific unit, the Force Intervention Brigade, is authorized to take direct military action against armed groups. Many people in the Democratic Republic of Congo feel that MONUSCO has not been effective in maintaining peace, leading to widespread frustration. The president of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, also believes the mission has failed and wanted it to leave by the end of last year. At the same time, a group of 16 African nations, the Southern African Development Community, has deployed its troops to Congo, but despite their efforts, they have not been able to stop the ongoing violence.  

.    .    .