Corneille Nangaa

Force in Play

Serves as one of four FRN vice-presidents

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: Leading rebel advance deeper into DRC territory

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

Force in Play

As of May 2026: AFC leader rejecting Washington deals; group claims Kisangani drone strike amid Doha talks.

In early 2025, the Rwanda-backed M23 rebellion and its allies seized Goma and Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, displacing millions. The United States stepped in and brokered the June 27 Washington Accord.

Updated May 9