7 d. ago M23 rebels capture strategic mining hub of Walikale in eastern DRC

The town in North Kivu province is the farthest west the group has reached since the start of its advance in JanuaryM23 rebels have captured a strategic mining hub in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, defying calls from the presidents of Rwanda and the DRC for an immediate ceasefire.A Congolese army spokesman said M23 was in control of the town of Walikale. An officer separately told Agence France-Presse its forces were around 20 miles (30km) away in the town of Mubi. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Congo says it will participate in peace talks with M23 rebels

Congo’s government says it will participate in peace talks in Angola with the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group that has captured key areas of Congo’s mineral-rich east

Politics

1 week ago ‘I was terrified’: refugees who fled DRC to Burundi recall deadly river crossing

People tell of family members being swept away in desperate attempts to escape the advance of the M23 rebel group Atosha winced as she recalled the 15 minutes she spent in the fast-flowing Rusizi River, which separates the Democratic Republic of the Congo from Burundi, on a Friday night in late February.“I was terrified,” the 23-year-old said of her journey of about 130 metres, spent clinging to a makeshift float alongside a young man whom she had paid to take her to the Burundian side. “It was my first time crossing that river and I had no option.” Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Supermarket guards, truck drivers and ‘very big mistakes’: the failed role of western mercenaries in the fall of Goma

An investigation into the DRC’s use of hundreds of hired Romanian fighters reveals how a disorganised operation with untrained recruits became a deadly ‘circus’In January, after the two-year siege of the Congolese city of Goma ended with victory for the M23 rebels and Rwandan troops, an ill-assorted group of nearly 300 white mercenaries were lined up to have their humiliating defeat televised.“You must not joke with us,” barked Willy Ngoma, the M23’s military spokesperson, at one man he’d ordered to sit on the ground with his hands clasped behind his head. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi will withdraw troops from conflict

African leaders have announced the withdrawal of thousands of troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi who were sent to fight insurgents in mineral-rich eastern Congo, where M23 rebels have killed peacekeepers while overrunning the region this year

Events

2 w. ago Innocent people 'burned alive in homes and churches' as man reveals 'I saw charred bodies'

Reports of almost 50 civilians bodies both shot and burned to death have surfaced – as local self-defence militias clash with M23 rebels in Congo's northern province of North Kivu

Events

3 w. ago Rebels in eastern Congo abducted 130 hospital patients, UN says

The United Nations says the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have abducted at least 130 sick and wounded men in two hospitals in a major city in eastern Congo

Science

3 w. ago Bukavu hospital patients tell of being shot in chaos of Congolese withdrawal

Widespread shooting and looting preceded arrival of M23 rebels, overwhelming city’s poorly resourced facilitiesPatients at hospitals in the second-largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have described how they sustained serious injuries during the chaotic withdrawal of the Congolese army and its allies in the days before Rwanda-backed M23 rebels marched in.Widespread shooting and looting preceded the arrival of the rebels in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, on 14 February, overwhelming the city’s poorly resourced hospitals. Continue reading...

Science

4 w. ago Deadly blasts hit M23 rebel rally in captured DRC city of Bukavu

Deaths and injuries reported after explosions at rally attended by thousands in city captured by rebel groupSeveral people have been killed and dozens more injured after blasts at a mass rally held by the M23 group in Bukavu, the city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo captured by the rebels earlier this month.Footage posted on social media showed people fleeing the scene. In another, bloodied bodies lay on the ground, and injured people were being carried away. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Dozens reportedly injured after explosions rock a meeting of M23 rebel group leaders in Congo

Dozens of people were reportedly injured after two explosions hit a meeting of M23 rebel group leaders and residents in eastern Congo

Events