Government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo launched an attack against the M23 armed group in the east of the country, using drones to strike a strategic mining site occupied by the Rwandan-backed rebels, security sources told AFP on Wednesday.
Wednesday's fighting was concentrated particularly in areas near the mining town of Rubaya, where M23 soldiers were hit by a drone strike the day before.
The Rubaya mine produces 15 to 30% of the world's supply of coltan, a mineral essential for the manufacture of electronic devices such as laptops and mobile phones.
Since its resurgence in 2021, the M23 has seized vast swathes of resource-rich eastern DRC and took control of the Rubaya mine in North Kivu province in April 2024 with Rwandan assistance.
Its advance has intensified the conflict that has ravaged eastern DRC for more than three decades, where dozens of rival armed groups and foreign powers have long fought for control of the region's rich deposits of precious minerals.
In December, the M23 launched an offensive on the strategic city of Uvira, located in South Kivu province, near the border with Burundi. This attack was condemned by the United States, which brokered a fragile peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda. Angola, another mediator, had proposed a ceasefire that was supposed to take effect on February 18, but it did little to end the hostilities.
On Wednesday, local militias supported by Congolese soldiers carried out attacks on several points along the front line in North Kivu, particularly in Masisi, where Rubaya is located, according to local and security sources. According to United Nations experts, the M23 has established a parallel administration to the Congolese state to regulate the operation of the Rubaya mine since its capture.
"In the center of Rubaya, people are terrified. I went to see the place where the drone hit, but access was refused to me," a resident who wished to remain anonymous told AFP on Tuesday.
Clashes were also reported on Wednesday in the highlands of South Kivu, where the Congolese army is fighting a coalition of militias allied with the M23.
