2025 Goma offensive

The 2025 Goma offensive was a military operation launched by the March 23 Movement (M23), a Congolese rebel group that is part of the Congo River Alliance (AFC) and is supported by Rwanda, against the regional capital of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It lasted from January 23 to January 30, 2025. The campaign was part of the larger M23 campaign in the North and South Kivu provinces of the DRC, which resumed in October 2024 after a pause. During January 2025 the M23 rebels made a rapid advance in the Kivu region, cutting off the road connections to the North Kivu provincial capital of Goma by January 23 and arriving in the city on January 25. The military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), assisted by United Nations and SADC peacekeepers, and the Wazalendo pro-government militias, prepared a defensive line in northern Goma. The initial M23 attack on January 25 was held back, but the next day the group's forces broke through and entered the city. Fighting occurred throughout Goma on January 27, with M23 reaching the city center, though it remained contested. The FARDC continued to hold Goma International Airport, which became the largest holdout, and several other strategic locations. The airport was captured on January 28 when the Congolese soldiers there surrendered. As of January 29, M23 controlled most of the city, but sporadic fighting continued on the outskirts, especially in northern Goma. Congolese government forces were still resisting in the outskirts of northern Goma as of January 30, though later that day most of the fighting stopped. Rwanda, which is widely reported to be supporting M23 with soldiers and weapons, was, as a result, ordered on January 24 to cease all diplomatic and consular activities in the DRC and leave Kinshasa, the DRC's capital. The DRC also recalled its diplomats from Rwanda. UN sources estimated that between 500 and 1,000 Rwandan troops assisted M23 in the Goma area. On January 27, the Congolese and Rwandan soldiers exchanged fire across the their border near Goma. The fall of the city has been the largest escalation in the Kivu conflict since the M23 briefly occupied Goma in 2012 and has created concerns that the M23 conflict could turn into a larger regional war due to the presence of troops from Rwanda and Burundi in the Kivu provinces. Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi called for a national mobilization, and the deputy prime minister for defense Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita said that there will be no negotiations with M23. The leader of the rebel coalition, Corneille Nangaa, said that the group intends to continue all the way to the national capital Kinshasa.