Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against a rebel alliance that has besieged swaths of the nation’s mineral-rich east and forced hundreds of local troops and foreign mercenaries to surrender.

Israeli Arbel Yehoud, 29, who had been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters as she is handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

The Congolese government forces (FARDC), fighting alongside a coalition of other forces, recently intensified their battle against the March 23 Movement (M23) in the eastern DR Congo. In response, the M23,

South Africa often uses its diplomatic heft to position itself as defender of the "global south" on the world stage, but the deaths of 13 of its soldiers in eastern Congo fighting have exposed an inability to project hard power in its own backyard.

When M23 rebels swept into the Congolese city of Goma this week, world powers urged them to immediately withdraw. Instead, the Rwanda-backed insurgents are intent on showing they can restore order and govern.

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President of the Democratic Republic of Congo said on Thursday that his troopers are fighting an insurgence by the Rwandan-backed militant group M23 which recently captured swaths of land in the east.

President Paul Kagame has urged his counterparts from the East African Community (EAC) to pull in the same direction and avoid being manipulated in attempts to find a solution to the security challenges blighting DR Congo.

On January 27, the March 23 (M23) rebel movement in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo entered Goma and took control of major parts of the city. The M23’s movement into Goma is a drastic escalation in what has been cycles of violence, rebellion, and international engagement in the region.

The M23 rebels backed by Rwanda have expanded their control over the provincial capital of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo following their invasion on Monday. After the early-morning incursion,

Many of the millions of people trapped in eastern Congo’s escalating rebellion face a terrible choice: Retreat into Congo’s interior and seek the protection of an army in disarray, or cross into nearby Rwanda,