Nangaa, a leader in the River Congo Alliance, or AFC, a military-political coalition to which the M23 belongs, is a former president of the DRC’s electoral commission
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are offering a $5-million reward for help in arresting leaders of the M23 group that recently captured two major northern towns, the Justice Ministry announced.
“A reward of $5 million is offered to any person who helps arrest the convicts Corneille Nangaa, Bertrand Bisimwa and Sultani Makenga,” the ministry said in a statement.
Nangaa, a leader in the River Congo Alliance, or AFC, a military-political coalition to which the M23 belongs, is a former president of the DRC’s electoral commission.
Bisimwa and Makenga are, respectively, the president and military chief of the M23. Tried in absentia in Kinshasa, all three men were convicted and sentenced to death in August 2024.
DRC authorities are also offering a bounty of $4 million for any information leading to the arrest of the three men’s “accomplices on the run” and “other sought individuals,” the statement said.
The M23, which, according to UN experts, is backed by some 4,000 Rwandan soldiers, resumed its fight against the government in Kinshasa in 2021 and has since seized swaths of territory in North Kivu, which borders Rwanda.
A lightning offensive in recent weeks has captured the provincial capital, Goma, and Bukavu, the main cities in the neighboring province of South Kivu. The DRC’s mineral-rich east has been ravaged for three decades by conflict and atrocities.
According to the Financial Times, the US is in exploratory talks with the DRC over a deal that would give Washington access to critical minerals in the country.
Congo approached the US last month, proposing a deal that would offer exploration rights to the US in exchange for support for the government of President Felix Tshisekedi, the newspaper reported, citing public documents. Security sources said on Friday at least 35 people were killed when pro-government militia attacked a village in the restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,
The attack happened at about 3 a.m. on Thursday in the village of Tambi, in the Masisi area of North Kivu province controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group. A security source said that at least 35 people were killed in the attack, while local sources and an eyewitness put the death toll at more than 40.
A community leader and a medical source said villagers had recently returned to the area after having fled fighting between the M23 and the Congolese army and local militia. “The militia went to attack Tambi where residents had started to return … they opened fire and civilians were killed,” said one community leader, who said 43 people died.
“They put some victims in a church and then shot them. Those who were in the fields were killed there.” The community leader, a local health worker, and a local resident said another group of civilians sought refuge in a house and died when the militia set it on fire. “We counted 47 bodies in the morning,” the resident said, adding that they were buried in a communal grave.
Some of the victims were unable to be identified because of their burns, he added.
Meanwhile, the March 23 Movement (M23) armed group announced that its fighters had entered Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
As the conflict escalated, regional leaders convened at the ongoing African Union (AU) summit, which will be concluded on Sunday, in an effort to prevent the crisis from spiraling into a broader regional war.
In a statement released Saturday, the M23 called on Bukavu residents to form “vigilance committees to ensure security and to appoint honest and responsible people to lead them.” The group’s spokesperson Laurence Kanyuka confirmed earlier that the M23 had entered the city.
On Friday, the M23 announced that it had seized Kavumu Airport, a vital humanitarian and military supply hub in South Kivu. The airport serves as a key defensive line for Bukavu, located about 30 km away.
Local sources said that despite the group’s earlier claim that it had no intention of capturing the city, its fighters continued advancing toward Bukavu. Meanwhile, some DRC soldiers and their allies were seen retreating toward Uvira, a strategic commercial and transport hub near the Burundian border.
The latest M23 offensive comes weeks after the group claimed to have captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province, on January 26. Since early February, the rebels have seized several towns in South Kivu, sparking panic among Bukavu residents.
Violence has surged in the eastern DRC as the M23 intensifies its offensives. Since late 2021, the group has captured several strategic locations, including Goma, a regional urban hub with over one million residents and 700,000 displaced people, the border trading town of Bunagana, and the mining hub of Rubaya, known globally for its rich coltan deposits. The group has also set up parallel administrations in occupied territories, appointing a “provincial governor” in North Kivu last week.
The fighting in South Kivu, fueled by the M23’s continued offensive, threatens to push the entire region to the brink, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Saturday during the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. The escalating crisis in the eastern DRC was a key item on the summit’s agenda.
“Regional escalation must be avoided at all costs,” said the UN chief. “There is no military solution. The deadlock must end and dialogue must begin.”
