The interim report by UN experts must also note this progress by the AFC/M23 rebels.
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The Minister of Justice also goes into a verse on the victory on the ground of the Congolese army which would have regained control of Masisi-Centre, a new locality in North Kivu which fell last weekend into the the purse of the rebels of the Congo River Alliance (AFC)/M23, the politico-military movement which has accelerated the pace of its territorial conquests since the beginning of the year.
According to our sources, the Congolese soldiers supported by the wazalendos and the FDLR in fact recaptured part of Masisi-Centre on Wednesday, after a day of bitter fighting. But this Thursday, AFC/M23 troops recovered the entire locality. In Kinshasa, mentioning this feat of arms can now result in a death sentence…
For a lawyer, human rights defender in the Congolese capital, “it is obvious that this new outing from the Minister of Justice is trying to gag those who are not satisfied with the victorious messages of the Félix Tshisekedi regime. If you add up the triumphalist announcements of power, the Congolese soldiers should have recovered at least the entire Congolese territory. However, this is far from being the case”.
Continued expansion
However, this progression of the rebels is highlighted in the interim report (162 pages) by UN experts, transmitted on November 29, 2024 to the Security Council Committee. We can read that on the ground the AFC: M23 troops have “actively pursued their expansionist objectives, the aim being to consolidate the support of all the armed groups of Ituri and South Kivu. More and more armed groups sided with them, openly or covertly, which gradually influenced and intertwined the dynamics of the conflict in the eastern provinces. In North Kivu, a ceasefire concluded between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda did not prevent the AFC-M23 coalition, with the constant support of the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF), from “expand considerably, particularly in the mineral-rich Walikale territory.”
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On this North Kivu front, the experts who, once again, carried out meticulous work, noted, when finalizing their report, that “the AFC-M23 coalition took Rubaya, which has the largest mine of coltan from the Great Lakes region. She set up a parallel administration, which controls mining activities, trade, transport and taxation of the minerals produced,” before adding: “at least 150 tons of coltan were fraudulently exported to Rwanda and mixed to Rwandan production, giving rise to the largest contamination ever recorded to date of mineral supply chains in the Great Lakes region”.
In recent months, the rebels have in fact got their hands on several sites rich in minerals which allow them to both replenish the coffers of their movement and deprive their adversaries of as much income. they also took over bases and stocks of the Congolese army as in Katale, on Friday January 3, 2025. This city, located 80 kilometers west of Goma, was also considered, until day, as a symbol of resistance. Indeed, most of the rebellions that crossed the province of North Kivu never succeeded in taking control of this city.
The shadow of Daesh
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If the AFC/M23 is the most important rebel movement and the one making the most progress in the eastern part of the DRC, it is not the only one. Indeed, the UN experts’ report also looks at the role of the Allied Defense Force (ADF), from Uganda, which continues to cause numerous victims in civilian ranks. The experts note here that the operations, carried out by the Congolese troops in collaboration with the Ugandan military, even if they did not always take place without tension, this time met with a certain success. “The latest operations have considerably weakened the ADF,” we can read. “They destroyed their strongholds, decimated their troops and their hierarchy and allowed the escape of hundreds of hostages […] Forced to move constantly, the ADF saw their operational capabilities considerably reduced and their supply chains disrupted. They suffer from famine and disease.” This progress does not mean a reduction in threats to the civilian population, “on the contrary, it has pushed them further west, into areas where the presence of state security forces was minimal […]. The strategic repositioning of the ADF, essential for their survival, has led to a considerable expansion of their territorial footprint in Ituri and North Kivu. Experts further note that “Daesh has become more interested in the activities of the ADF in the DRC. From June 2024, the number of ADF attacks claimed by Daesh has seen a notable increase compared to previous months (111 between June 2 and the end of October). The time to claim responsibility for an attack has decreased significantly, from several days to sometimes 24 hours. This trend suggests an improvement in collaboration between Daesh and the ADF.”
The general assessment of this report demonstrates, once again, the inability of the Congolese authorities to bring peace to the entire territory and the experts also refer Kinshasa and Kigali back to back for their support either to the FDLR or to the rebels. of the AFC/M23 and their lack of determination to move towards a real solution to pacify the region.
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