M23 (March 23 Movement)

Force in Play

Part of the Kabila-led FRN; FRN forces tried to retake Uvira in November 2026

Congolese authorities have now opened three mass graves in Uvira and counted more than 344 bodies, up from the 171 reported in two sites in February. A military prosecutor has identified about 110 grave sites across the Uvira area, most still unopened.

Updated Yesterday

Force in Play

Controls territory and mining areas in eastern Congo

The US Treasury sanctioned Rwanda's defence ministry and Zigama Credit and Savings Society, the bank that handles payments for the country's security services, on October 28. Treasury says the ministry sent thousands of troops into eastern Congo to fight alongside the M23 rebel group.

Updated Nov 3

Force in Play

Controls Goma and parts of eastern DR Congo

Joseph Kabila, who led the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019, heads a political-military coalition that includes the M23 rebel group. The Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN) was launched in Goma, the eastern city M23 has controlled since January 2025. Kabila is the FRN's president, and M23's Bertrand Bisimwa and former AFC leader Corneille Nangaa are vice presidents.

Updated Oct 26

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Controls large swaths of eastern DRC including major mining sites

A landslide at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed more than 400 people on January 29, 2026—miners, children, and market workers buried when rain-soaked tunnels collapsed. The mine, controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group since May 2024, supplies roughly 15% of the world's coltan, which becomes tantalum capacitors in smartphones and aircraft engines worldwide. M23 extracts an estimated $800,000 monthly by taxing every gram of ore.

Updated May 26