Category Archives: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Pressure grows on EU to freeze minerals deal with Rwanda over DRC fighting

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Belgium leads calls for suspension of agreement after Rwanda-backed rebels captured city of Goma

The EU is under mounting pressure to suspend a controversial minerals deal with Rwanda that has been blamed for fuelling the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Calls to freeze the agreement have grown after fighters from the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group captured the city of Goma in the eastern DRC, escalating a decades-old conflict and raising fears of a regional war.

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At least 770 killed in Goma, east DRC, in fighting with Rwanda-backed M23

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Rebels had captured the city in January in major escalation of 10-year-old conflict

At least 773 people were killed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s largest city of Goma and its vicinity this week amid fighting with Rwanda-backed rebels who captured the city in a major escalation of a decade-long conflict, Congolese authorities have said.

The rebels’ advance into other areas was slowed by a weakened military that recovered some villages from them.

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Lammy tells Rwanda it is putting $1bn in aid ‘under threat’ in DRC invasion

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UK foreign secretary issues direct warning during phone call with Rwandan president after escalation of conflict

Rwanda has put $1bn of global aid under threat by taking part in the invasion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, has said.

He made the direct warning in a phone call to the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, on Sunday after also speaking to the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, about the crisis.

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Fighting between DRC army and M23 rebels rages in eastern city of Goma

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At least 100 people killed and 1,000 wounded in three days of heavy fighting in North Kivu

Dead bodies lay on the streets and explosions and gunfire echoed across the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Tuesday, as fighting continued to rage between the army and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.

Residents reported continuing gun and mortar fire in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and a regional humanitarian hub for displaced people, after M23 fighters entered the city on Sunday.

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France seeks UN resolution naming Rwanda as backer of M23 rebels in DRC

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M23’s lightning advance into east DRC being supported by up to 4,000 Rwandan troops, say UN officials

France is seeking western support for a UN security council resolution that names Rwanda as being behind the M23 rebel group attacks inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the surprise weekend seizure of parts of Goma, the largest city in eastern DRC.

UN officials said as many as 4,000 Rwandan troops were escorting the M23 rebels. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Sunday called on “the Rwandan defence forces to stop supporting the M23 and to withdraw from the territory of the DRC”. It was his clearest statement of Rwandan responsibility for much of the violence.

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Rwandan-backed rebels M23 claim capture of eastern DRC city Goma

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Fighters enter city on border with Rwanda after lightning advance, raising risk of broader regional war

Fighters from the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group claim to have taken the eastern city of Goma after a lightning advance in recent weeks that has forced thousands from their homes and risked reigniting a broader regional war.

The M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said on X: “We urge all residents of Goma to remain calm. The liberation of the city has been successfully carried out and the situation is under control.”

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Rwandan army ‘ready to invade DRC’ and help rebels seize city

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Intelligence sources suggest battle for Congolese regional capital Goma is imminent before UN crisis talks on Sunday

Large numbers of troops from Rwanda have been pouring across the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to help rebels seize the regional capital of Goma before an emergency UN meeting about the crisis takes place on Sunday, intelligence officials have warned.

Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) soldiers are believed to have secretly crossed into the eastern DRC over the past few days to assist a lightning offensive by the M23 militia.

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Military chief killed as M23 rebels close in on Goma in eastern DRC

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Maj Gen Peter Cirimwami Nkuba shot near frontline as advance causes panic among civilian population

The military governor of North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has died from injuries sustained during the army’s fight against the M23 rebel group as it advances towards the city of Goma.

Maj Gen Peter Cirimwami Nkuba, who led the province since 2023, died after being shot near the frontline on Thursday, government and UN sources told various news agencies.

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Halt illegal imports of conflict minerals from DRC, campaigners urge EU

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Law to stop armed groups profiting from trade in gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum is being breached, rights groups say

The European Union has been urged to clamp down on illegal imports of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after evidence was found that current regulations had been breached.

The advocacy group Global Witness (GW) said there remained a “high risk” of the EU’s mineral imports being used to fund militias and state repression in several countries.

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Court ruling on Belgium’s conduct in colonial Africa hailed as turning point

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Verdict of crimes against humanity for kidnap of mixed-race children could pave way for wider justice, activists say

A historic court ruling that found Belgium guilty of crimes against humanity during its colonial rule of central Africa has been hailed as a turning point that could pave the way for compensation and other forms of justice.

Belgium’s court of appeal ruled last month that the “systematic kidnapping” of mixed-race children from their African mothers in Belgian-ruled Congo, Rwanda and Burundi was a crime against humanity. The case was brought by five women who were removed from their Congolese mothers as small children between 1948 and 1953, and who now live in Belgium and France. Each was awarded €50,000 (£42,000) in damages.

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Unknown disease kills 143 people in south-west DRC, local authorities say

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Infected people described as having flu-like symptoms including high fever and severe headaches

An unknown disease killed 143 people in a south-west province of Democratic Republic of the Congo in November, local authorities told Reuters.

Infected people had flu-like symptoms including high fever and severe headaches, Remy Saki, the deputy governor of Kwango province, and Apollinaire Yumba, the provincial minister of health, said on Monday.

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First known US case of person infected with new mpox strain reported

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Person acquired clade Ib while traveling to east Africa and treated in California for mild illness, said health officials

US health officials reported Saturday the first known case of a person infected with the new mpox strain in the country.

The person acquired mpox while traveling to east Africa and was treated for a mild illness in San Mateo, California, according to health officials. The person is isolating at home and is recovering, and there is no evidence that mpox is spreading in the United States.

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Breakdown in global order causing progress to stall in Africa – report

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‘Moral threshold coming down,’ warns Mo Ibrahim, as his index of governance reveals widespread decline in 10 years

The global rise of populism and “strongmen” has led to an increase in authoritarianism in Africa that is holding back progress in governance, the businessman and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim has said.

According to the latest edition of the Ibrahim index of African governance, 78% of Africa’s citizens live in a country where security and democracy deteriorated between 2014 and 2023.

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Mpox vaccination begins in DRC after 859 die this year

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World Health Organization declared outbreak in central and east Africa a global emergency two months ago

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have begun vaccination against mpox, nearly two months after the disease outbreak that spread to several countries was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization.

Some of the 265,000 doses donated to the DRC by the EU and the US were administered in the eastern city of Goma in North Kivu province, where hospitals and health workers have been overstretched, struggling to contain the new and possibly more infectious strain of mpox.

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At least 78 dead and dozens missing after ferry disaster in DR Congo

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Overcrowded boat on Lake Kivu capsizes as it was about to dock near Goma, with death toll likely to rise significantly

At least 78 people have drowned and many more are missing after a boat belived to be carrying 278 passengers capsized on Thursday morning just a few hundred metres from the shore of Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The accident happened just as the vessel, MV Merdy, was about to dock at the port of Kituku, just outside the city of Goma, after crossing the lake from the town of Minova.

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Dikembe Mutombo, NBA Hall of Famer and humanitarian, dies at 58

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  • Former NBA star’s diagnosis was revealed two years ago
  • Center was known for charity work in US and Africa

Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, whose towering presence dominated basketball on and off the court, has died from brain cancer at the age of 58.

“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement on Monday. “On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in the history of the NBA. Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others.”

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Race to combat mpox misinformation as vaccine rollout in DRC begins

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Poll suggests half of Congolese have not heard of deadly disease, as conspiracy theories and rumours spread

For doctors and nurses fighting mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the virus itself is not the only enemy. They are also facing swirling rumours and misinformation.

The first of millions of promised doses of mpox vaccine have finally started to arrive. Now the focus is on ensuring that people who need them will take them when the vaccination campaign begins next month, and teaching wider communities how to protect themselves.

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Rwandan forces and M23 rebels shelled refugee camps in DRC, report claims

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Human Rights Watch alleges potential violation of international human rights law on many occasions this year

Rwandan forces and M23 rebels have shelled refugee camps and other highly populated areas in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on many occasions this year, Human Rights Watch has claimed.

The NGO also accused the DRC’s armed forces and its allied militias of putting the camps’ residents in danger by stationing their artillery nearby in its report alleging violation of international humanitarian and human rights law in the longstanding war in the central African country.

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Families of Americans ensnared in DRC coup plot assert their innocence

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Young Americans face death penalty for ‘amateurish’ assault in Congo that was led by one of their fathers

The family of a Utah student sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo for his alleged role in a failed coup d’etat in which his father was killed fears he and two other Americans could be executed within days without US government intervention.

Marcel Malanga, 22, was one of dozens convicted and sentenced at a military tribunal in Kinshasa last week, after the attempted overthrow of the Congolese government in May. The “amateurish” assault, which left six dead, was led by his father, Christian Malanga, a former DRC opposition leader, army captain and self-styled warlord.

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Briton and Americans among 37 given death sentence over DRC coup attempt

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Son of opposition figure who led botched attempt in May is among three Americans sentenced to death

A Briton and three Americans are among 37 people sentenced to death on Friday over an attempt to overthrow the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Six people were killed during the botched coup attempt led by the opposition figure Christian Malanga on 19 May that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Félix Tshisekedi.

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