Link to article: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/rebels-seize-key-town-eastern-congo-2025-01-05/
Recently, a Tutsi led rebel group named M23, backed by Rwanda, has taken a strategically placed town near one of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s provincial capitals, Goma. Since 2022, the group M23 has been fighting in eastern Congo. Both the UN and Congo declare that Rwanda is giving the rebels their own troops and weapons. Rwanda rebukes that it is taking defensive measures. In these past weeks, fighting has increased in Congo which has allowed M23 to gain more territory. M23 is now in control of Masisi, an administrative center around 50 miles from Goma. Government officials from Congo say that the state is taking measures to assert total authority over the whole territory and that the territories lost to the insurgent group will not be lost for long. The ending of the conflict is questionable as important peace meetings have been postponed. The violence has caused 1.9 million people to be displaced.
Already, Congo is infected by so much violence so this ongoing conflict is not helping the lives of people living there- already having led to much displacement and human rights abuse. It will be hard for the Congo government to keep authority as they are fighting a seemingly successful rebel group. Why M23 and other rebel groups have had this success may be due to the Congolese government struggling to fully control their country with much corruption. Because Congo is rich in resources that other countries profit off of, access to these resources could be jeopardized if rebel groups take these strategic areas and Congo fails to keep control over them. International actors may step in to stop the conflict if they get resources from Congo and do not want to see an end to that.
Congo has already stated they will take additional actions to achieve stability like perhaps negotiation to prevent more unwanted civilian casualties. The African Union or United Nations could help in acquiring peace by promoting more diplomacy and supporting more peace efforts. M23 is a Tutsi led rebel group which could be tied to ethnic tensions derived from colonial time policies. In a realist view point, neighboring countries, like Rwanda, will support these rebel groups for their own gain whether that be political or economic. Additionally, surrounding states may dislike this conflict because it leads to more refugees trying to cross their borders.