Congo War Security Review

Data Cutoff: February 25, 2025, at 1 P.M. EST

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Key Takeaway: The Congolese army (FARDC) is attempting to recapture a town and its nearby airstrip in South Kivu from the M23-aligned Twirwaneho rebels. The UK sanctioned Rwanda and both the EU and UK suspended defense cooperation with Rwanda due to Rwandan support for M23. Defense ministers from the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) discussed measures to implement a ceasefire and restart regional peace initiatives during a joint meeting on February 24.

Northern Axis: Lubero-Butembo-Beni-Bunia

Nothing significant to report.

Southern Axis: Bukavu-Uvira-Baraka-Kalemie

The Congolese army (FARDC) is attempting to recapture Minembwe town and its nearby airstrip from the M23-aligned Twirwaneho rebels. FARDC clashed with Twirwaneho fighters and claimed to kill four rebel commanders in a FARDC drone strike near Minembwe town on February 25.[1] M23 claimed that FARDC withdrew from Minembwe on February 21 and has since indiscriminately bombed civilians near the town.[2] The Twirwaneho rebels clashed with FARDC about 14 miles north of Minembwe in Mikenge on February 25 and captured the town.[3] Congolese media reported FARDC and the Twirwaneho also clashed in Kabara on February 25, but CTP is unable to verify the location of the village.[4]

Tensions between the FARDC and allied Wazalendo groups remained high around Uvira. Congolese media outlet Actualite.cd reported that FARDC and allied militia fighters clashed in in the town of Sange, about 28 miles north of Uvira, over a UN military base in the town that the FARDC had abandoned.[5] Actualite.cd and other Congolese outlets that M23 had captured Sange on February 19, and it is unclear when or if M23 withdrew from the area.[6] The South Kivu military governor arrived in Uvira with around 600 FARDC soldiers and police officers on February 24 after relocating from the M23-held Bukavu.[7]

Northwest Axis: Masisi-Walikale-Lubutu-Kisangani

Nothing significant to report.

Southwest Axis: Bukavu-Kamituga-Shabunda-Kindu

Nothing significant to report.

Major Political Developments

The European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) imposed measures to pressure on Rwanda to cut its support for M23. The EU suspended defense talks with Rwanda and ordered a review of the EU’s agreements on mineral supply chains with Rwanda on February 24.[8] The UK announced a series of measures to pressure Rwanda to cut support for M23 and withdraw its troops from the eastern DRC on February 25. The UK’s sanctions included halting $33.5 million in bilateral aid and suspending defense training assistance.[9]

Defense ministers from the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) discussed measures to implement a ceasefire and restart regional peace processes during a joint meeting on February 24.[10] The ministers called for the immediate “deployment of a technical team” of 15 EAC-SADC military and civilian staff to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and for the joint bloc to “study the possibility” of a joint EAC-SADC force deployment to secure M23 occupied areas.[11] The defense ministers called for a joint meeting between the Kenya-mediated Nairobi process and the Angola-mediated Luanda process, naming three facilitators for a merged peace process—former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obansanjo, and former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.[12] A joint summit between EAC-SADC foreign ministers is scheduled for February 28.[13]