M23 Rebels Consolidate Control over Key City in DR Congo
Rwandan-backed rebels M23 are continuing to consolidate their control over Goma after taking control of the city’s international airport and border crossing. Fighting between M23 and the Congolese army reportedly dampened overnight as footage from Goma showed Congolese soldiers surrendering, with M23 celebrating in the streets. It remains unclear exactly how much of the city the Congolese government still controls.
Congolese military forces are supported by government-backed local militias and a UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO), but M23 is reportedly supported by an estimated 3,000- 4,000 members of the Rwandan Defence Forces.
Goma has a population of approximately 2 million people (including 1 million Internally Displaced Persons), and is the gateway to precious mineral mines in the region as well as being a humanitarian hub and a busy cross-border trading post.
The loss of key parts of the city represents a huge strategic blow to the Congolese military and will exacerbate one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
Leaders of both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo were expected to meet in Kenya on Wednesday for emergency talks, but the DRC President has said he will not attend.
UN Secretary General António Guterres’ demands for Rwanda to withdraw its troops and for M23 to cease its offensive have been ignored. Thirteen peacekeepers were killed in M23’s advance towards Goma last week.
Amid internet and power outages, the spread of disinformation online and ongoing fighting in the city, it has been hard to gain accurate information from the ground. Bellingcat geolocated footage emerging from the city and surrounding region to track the M23 assault.
The Long Presence of M23 in North Kivu
The M23 is a Rwanda-backed armed group whose stated goal is to defend Congolese Tutsis from surrounding communities. The group was formed in 2012 and seized Goma in the same year, but left the city shortly after being repelled by Congolese and UN troops. The group’s resurgence began in 2022 with the seizure of the town of Bunagana, on the Ugandan border north of Goma. The group’s advances south towards Goma and west into the mineral-rich territory of Masisi have displaced over 2 million people. US-backed peace negotiations held in Luanda, Angola, fell apart in late 2024 with Rwanda blaming the DRC for refusing to negotiate with M23 and DRC refusing to recognise M23 as anything more than a shadow army of the Rwandan government.
In a statement released Sunday, the Rwandan government blamed the Congolese army for violating previous ceasefire agreements and said the M23 group was fighting to protect their community. They raised concerns about the ongoing conflict in the neighbouring country and accused the Congolese government of failing to enter negotiations with M23.
Goma is located at a cross-roads. The city shares a porous border with Rwanda to the east, and to the south, it borders the massive Lake Kivu. The west and the north are the traditional Congolese routes into the city along the paved N2 highway. Sake, an outlying town to the west of Goma, was taken by M23 on their way to the regional capital.
While the UN peacekeeping force remains in the city, some were forced to temporarily take shelter amid the fighting.
The Assault on Goma
The political wing of M23 had issued a statement on Saturday urging the Congolese military in Goma to surrender in the next 48 hours. M23 penetrated the city overnight on Sunday and fighting between the two sides intensified over the next few days.
In the early hours of Monday, a video was posted on X showing soldiers walking calmly along the road with heavy vehicles driving alongside them. We geolocated the video to -1.681136, 29.234377, on one of the city’s larger streets – Boulevard Kanyamahanga in downtown Goma.
Later that day local journalist Daniel Michombero posted a video showing a long convoy of vehicles on the road. We geolocated this convoy to Avenue de la Corniche, here -1.694869, 29.232647, in front of a UN base. We were unable to immediately confirm ownership of the vehicles.
Smoke could be seen rising about Munzenze Prison as gunfire is heard. UN-sponsored Radio Okapi reported that more than 4,000 prisoners escaped from the facility amid clashes. We geolocated here -1.668827 29.232405; it was also geolocated by Benjamin Strick of the Centre for Information Resilience.
Control of the city remained contested throughout Monday and Tuesday with residents of Goma telling the media that ongoing fighting was forcing people to stay inside their homes.
Footage posted on social media showed intense fighting taking place on Goma’s streets. We geolocated this footage posted on Tuesday just west of the airport and north of the roundabout on Rue Sake and Boulevard Kanyamuhanga, here: -1.676993, 29.234208.
From Monday onwards, images and footage of Congolese army soldiers surrendering to Rwandan troops spread on social media.
Footage filmed by AFP news agency showed surrendering Congolese soldiers crossing into Rwanda escorted down the NR2 by Rwandan forces past the Grande Barriere/Corniche border crossing, here: -1.696132,29.247532.
Footage posted on X also showed men seeking refuge in a UN peacekeeping compound which we located here: -1.675276, 29.214131. In the footage gunfire can be heard in the background as people rush inside before the doors are closed
“We’re closing” is repeated three times by the UN peacekeepers before they finally close the gate.
Amid reports of their surrender, the South African National Defense Forces stationed in Goma released a statement on Tuesday clarifying that a white flag raised above their compound was raised to ensure a pause in hostilities so both sides could collect dead and wounded.
Control of Goma International Airport also remained unclear. On Sunday, it was evacuated, and international flights were temporarily grounded amid the fighting.
A video posted on Facebook on Sunday that we geolocated here, -1.658362 29.241093 showed Congolese troops and defence contractors securing access to the airport, amid reports M23 were in close proximity.
Local media reported it remained under control of the Congolese army on Monday. However by Tuesday, footage shared on X showed M23 soldiers in control of the airport with Congolese troops detained. We geolocated this image to the southern end of the runway, here -1.679029, 29.239894.
The Road to Goma: An Epicentre of Refugees
As M23 continued to take ground throughout January thousands of refugees have fled to massive camps of tents located north and west of Goma.
According to the World Food Programme, fighting in the last 25 days has displaced over 400,000 people, many of them already previously displaced.
The Town of Sake Falls
Fighting around the town of Sake to the west of Goma resulted in a victory for M23 on Thursday, 23 January.A video shared on Facebook on January 23 showed the position of the Congolese army and mercenaries along the N2 highway between Sake and Goma. We geolocated it here: -1.591358, 29.096926.
We confirmed the geolocation by cross-referencing the footage with Peak Visor and satellite imagery.
Four months ago, a YouTube interview with former Romanian soldiers supporting the Congolese army showed them located in the same defensive position.
M23 had been creeping along this supply route towards Goma, with smaller towns, such as Minova falling earlier in the week.
M23 has seized mining towns throughout its decade-long incursion into Congo, reportedly smuggling the wealth of the country to Rwanda, and then onto the global supply chain.
The militia had tested the defences of Sake throughout 2024, but pushed out the Congolese army on January 23. Social media footage showed Congolese soldiers walking back along the same highway towards Goma, located just 27 km away.
North Kivu’s Governor Killed and People Leave the City
On Friday, January 24, the Congolese military rolled out from Goma in an attempt to retake Sake.
The military governor of North Kivu province, Peter Cirimwami, accompanied them heading west along the N2 highway.
His visit went terribly wrong. Cirimwami was shot and killed during the fighting with M23, the Congolese army said in a statement released later that day.
The new military governor Somo Kakule Evariste was appointed on Tuesday, by the Ministry of Defence.
Non-essential UN personnel were also ordered to leave Goma, however the sizable UN peacekeeping force remains in the city.
Videos of UN staff boarding buses and being escorted by the military to the airport circulated widely, and was reposted by multiple pro-Rwanda social media accounts, alongside criticism of the UN mission and Congolese government.
Citizens Trapped
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council held on Sunday night, Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of MONUSCO, told delegates that M23 and Rwandan forces had penetrated the outskirts of Goma.
“In other words, we are trapped.”
Bintou Keita
Keita said that roads were blocked and that M23 has declared Goma’s airspace closed.
“In other words, we are trapped,” she said.
In a recent statement released by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent who are active in the city, they said the use of artillery in densely populated urban centres and near displaced persons camps was having a devastating impact on civilians. Their surgical teams were continuing to treat people in the city despite fighting.
“The wounded are transported by motorbike, others by bus, or with the help of Congolese Red Cross volunteers. Civilians arrive seriously wounded by bullets or shrapnel. The entire hospital is mobilized and the three surgical teams work tirelessly to treat patients who are sometimes lying on the floor due to lack of space,” Myriam Favier, head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Goma said.
Goma was last overrun by M23 in 2012. They withdrew after a peace agreement brokered by several African nations led the M23 troops to surrender the city.
It remains to be seen whether M23 – and their backers – will further cement their control over Goma and the North Kivu region over the coming days or enter negotiations for peace.
Carlos Gonzales, Pooja Chaudhuri, Rob Cecilio, and Dave Brookes contributed research to this report.
Riccardo, Sarah, Manon, Rob, and Dave are founding members of CongoEye, a group established via Bellingcat’s Discord server. CongoEye is dedicated to examining events in the Democratic Republic of Congo using open-source research methodologies.
Congo Eye is continuing to document and locate incidents of civilian harm in North Kivu. You can learn more about CongoEye at Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/congoeye.com], Medium [https://medium.com/@congoeye] or email rob@congoeye.com.
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