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Since the beginning of this year 2024, it has witnessed Democratic Republic of the Congo An escalation in military operations by the rebel March 23 Movement (M23), whose area of control has expanded significantly in previous years.
The movement's ability to cut off roads leading to Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, and its seizure of areas rich in mineral resources led to renewed accusations between the Congo andRwanda Tensions between them have escalated, prompting international institutions and influential Western powers to warn that the two countries are on the brink of imminent war.
In this report, we shed light on the background of the M23 movement, the reasons for the escalation of its operations, and the most important influential actors in the crisis in eastern DRC.
Motives for the emergence of the movement
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data identifies the M23 as an armed group operating in Nord Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with alleged support from the Rwandan government.
The movement's roots lie in the failed integration of Rwandan-speaking militants in the wake of the Congo wars, which led to a split between those who wanted to return and those who wanted to remain in the Congo. Those who preferred to remain founded the National Congress for the Defence of the People (NCDP) under Laurent Nkunda, which would later become the precursor to the movement.
The movement takes its name from the date of the failed negotiation process between the National Congress for the Defence of the People and the Congolese government on 23 March 2009.
The story began with a mutiny by about 300 soldiers – most of them former members of the conference in 2012 – over what they claimed was the Congolese government's failure to implement the peace agreement signed in 2009.، The matter worsened after the president's attempt Joseph Kabila To deploy soldiers away from North Kivu, where the Tutsi community, who make up the majority of the M23 movement, is concentrated.
According to Sebastien Garri, a researcher specializing in African conflicts and politics, the most important reasons for the movement's rebellion are its control over a number of sites rich in natural resources such as gold, in addition to the great pressure from the government supported by international forces to dismantle “the leadership system of the militia affiliated with the National Congress for the Defense of the People.”
In addition, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the group's leader, Nkunda, on charges of committing war crimes, including murder, rape, and sexual slavery that did not exclude children. All of this led to the movement's split from the conference on April 12, 2012.
In the same year, the movement expanded its military activities in the east of the country and seized large areas in Nord Kivu province, including its capital, Goma, bordering Rwanda, which enabled it to increase recruitment, as about 3,000 soldiers from the Congolese government forces and police defected and joined the M23 rebels.
The movement quickly expanded to South Kivu, where they declared their intention to overthrow the central government, before withdrawing from the capital after regional mediation on condition that they retain the areas they controlled before entering Goma.
In 2013, a peace agreement was signed by 11 African countries with the aim of putting an end to the violence in eastern Congo. All countries pledged not to interfere in the Congolese crisis and to provide assistance to implement the reforms stipulated in the agreement.
Back to the forefront
Regarding the movement’s return to activity after a 10-year hiatus, the movement’s spokesman, Lawrence Kanyoka, said: Interview with Al Jazeera Net I paid it Bojana Coulibaly Researcher on the language of conflict in the Great Lakes region – “We did not become inactive, we stopped fighting only because we were waiting for the implementation of the declaration signed on 12 December 2013 in Nairobi, but after 14 months of negotiations in Kinshasa with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo we were suddenly attacked by government forces.”
Regarding the most important points of disagreement in those negotiations, Kanyuka said, “We proposed to the government assistance in neutralizing groups of the Allied Democratic Forces, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, and the Mai Mai militia responsible for the insecurity, and we offered military and political cooperation.”
Kanyoka added, “While we were negotiating, we were surprised by a force that attacked our headquarters and killed 50 of our movement members. When we tried to communicate with the government to find out the details, we did not receive a response, so we decided to start responding to the attacks.”
March 23 in a new phase
The movement in its new phase was led by Sultani Makenga, who moved from Uganda With a large group of his followers, he was stationed in the border triangle between Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
By 2022, the movement had become one of 120 armed groups in eastern Congo, The Congolese army's refusal to negotiate with the movement and its leadership regarding a counter-attack played a role in the escalation of military confrontations and the failure of negotiated solutions, despite the efforts made by the Eastern Group. Africa.
The back-and-forth between the movement and the Congolese army continued around the cities of eastern Congo. But what international reports have proven is that the M23 has achieved great progress and remarkable successes, and the senior official described United nations In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bento Keita described the movement as a “conventional army, not armed groups,” referring to the level of professionalism the movement has reached.
The official also warned that the movement's capabilities could exceed those of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Since the beginning of 2024, and in reports documented by a number of competent authorities, the movement has launched the largest number of battles in its history, and expanded its areas of control in an unprecedented manner.
Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the movement
As hostilities between the Congolese army and the movement escalated, the army accused Kigali of sending special forces to conflict zones in areas bordering Rwanda, alleging that the neighbor had deployed Rwandan soldiers in the North Kivu province, which lies on the border.
The Congolese President stated Felix Tshisekedi He told state television that “there is no doubt that Rwanda supported the M23 movement to come and attack the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
At the end of 2022, Congo accused Rwanda again through a statement issued by Patrick Mobaya, Minister of Information and official government spokesman, in which he accused the Rwandan president Paul Kagami Personally, he said, “Kagame is adopting a position that sufficiently illustrates his strategy of permanent interference in the internal affairs of the DRC to maintain a climate of terror in the east of this vast country.”
But the movement's spokesman said in his meeting with Al Jazeera Net, “UN experts from Uganda and Rwanda accuse us, without any evidence, and the photos that were shown in the report do not prove anything, and none of the experts who wrote the report came to us to speak with us.”
International warnings of imminent war
In light of this extreme tension between the two neighbors – Congo and Rwanda – international parties began to warn of a war that might break out between them. The first came from the United Nations Special Envoy to the Republic of the Congo, who warned of the deterioration of the situation in the east of the country due to the activity of the “M23” movement, in which it has achieved great progress and expanded into new areas, leading to a record and unprecedented displacement.
Last February 2023, I reported United States of America The two countries are on the “brink of war” and must stay away from it, and this warning was classified as the most severe.
In an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council called for by France To discuss the increasing violence in eastern DRC, US Ambassador Robert Wood said Rwanda and Congo, along with regional actors, should immediately resume diplomatic talks, as regional diplomatic efforts, not military conflict, are the only path toward a negotiated solution and sustainable peace.
Regional efforts to resolve the crisis
In an attempt to end the chronic unrest in eastern Congo, the East African Community (EAC), which consists of seven countries, has initiated the formation of a regional military force of between 6,500 and 12,000 soldiers, and has called on local armed groups to join a political process to resolve their grievances, because the other option is “military confrontation with them.”
The regional military force was deployed in North Kivu with missions that included participating in the fighting alongside Congolese forces against the M23, but after a year in the Congo the movement withdrew its forces, amid accusations from the government that the regional forces were inactive and not serious about confronting the rebel movement.
On the other hand, Congolese citizens accused the East African forces of appearing to coexist with the movement that they were supposed to confront with war, and the Congolese president criticized the forces' unwillingness to confront the rebellion, which prompted Congo to ask the group to withdraw.
After the failure of the East African Community in its mission and with the movement's attacks escalating and its military gains on the ground increasing, President Tshisekedi called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) – which consists of 16 countries in southern Africa – to deploy its forces in the troubled region.
Three of the group's member states agreed to deploy about 5,000 troops, which cast doubt on its feasibility, especially since the East African Community forces were twice this force but did not achieve any notable accomplishment, which lowered expectations for what this force could do.
But the M23 is frustrated by this force, the most prominent of which is South African troops. “It is shocking to see South Africa today fighting alongside a DRC government coalition that supports discrimination, xenophobia and hatred of Kinyarwanda speakers in eastern DRC,” says Kanyuka.
Key players in the eastern Congo crisis
Reports confirm that the number of active military groups in eastern DRC may reach 200 groups, varying in their objectives, connections and affiliations, but concentrated in the eastern Congo region, rich in resources and precious minerals:
It is considered one of the largest and most influential armed groups in the theater after the Congolese army. Its members are the Congolese Tutsi ethnic group, supported by their brothers in the neighboring region in neighboring Rwanda, which leads to accusations of Rwanda’s planned support for this group, according to Kinshasa and many international institutions.
- Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
Formed by ethnic Hutus who fled the genocide against the Tutsis in 1994, the group is known as the “Interamahui” and is estimated to number two million. The front finds support in the Congo and is also active in its east. This group opposes Tutsi control of East Africa and even Rwanda.
It is a military force approved by the UN Security Council to stabilize the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The brigade has a full mandate to carry out offensive operations against rebels and non-state armed groups in accordance with Security Council Resolution (2013/2098), but President Tshisekedi's government accuses the brigade of failing to confront the rebellion and demands that it leave.
- Southern African Economic Community (SADC) Forces
It is a force of 5,000 troops deployed at the request of the Congolese government after the failure of the East African Community forces to which the DRC belongs.
- Allied Democratic Forces
It is a Ugandan armed group, active in the eastern region of the Congo, and claims to be fighting to establish an Islamic state in Uganda. It uses the Congo as a launching pad for its operations against the Ugandan army, and was the reason for the Ugandan forces’ penetration deep into the Congo. The group recently entered into an alliance with ISIS, the African wing.
- Congo Development Community
Founded during the Second Congo War and originating as an agricultural cooperative, it is composed of the Lindua ethnic group who, rejecting the dominance and competition of the Hema ethnic group, set out to seek their share of the mineral wealth using force like other groups.
- Mai Mai or self-defense groups
They are indigenous groups called “Waslindos”, which means Swahili nationalists, and they fight alongside Congolese forces. It is reported that about 40,000 “Mai-Mai” have undergone training since 2020.
- European mercenaries
It is a military force made up of mercenaries run by the company “Aqmira”, registered in Bulgaria and run by a French citizen and includes members of the French pensioners, and another group through a company called Congo Protection, run by a former member of the French Legion, who is from Romania, and consists of former soldiers from Eastern Europe, and works to train Congolese army units and protect defensive positions, and the forces run by the two companies are estimated at about a thousand soldiers.
- Burundi covert operations forces
Internal UN reports say Burundi has a 1,000-strong military force in North and South Kivu fighting alongside Congolese troops and in uniform, targeting Burundian rebel groups known as the Red Tabara militia, which Burundi accuses Rwanda of funding.
