Overview

• The M23 rebel group, supported by Rwanda, has captured the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu in eastern Congo within weeks, marking their most significant territorial gains in over a decade.
• The conflict has displaced over 700,000 people since January 2025, worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis in a region with millions previously uprooted by violence.
• Congo's military retreated from Bukavu to avoid urban combat, but clashes erupted between retreating soldiers and allied militias, deepening chaos in the region.
• International pressure on Rwanda has been limited, with Western countries hesitant to act decisively due to geopolitical interests and past failures to address the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
• The escalating violence risks drawing neighboring countries like Uganda and Burundi into a broader regional conflict, reminiscent of Congo's devastating wars in the late 1990s and early 2000s.