M23 spokesperson killed in drone strike near strategic mining hub in eastern DRC

By Agency Staff

Dakar — The military spokesperson for the M23 rebel group, Willy Ngoma, was killed in an army drone strike in eastern DRC on Tuesday, two senior rebel officials, a regional diplomat and a Western adviser to the government said.

The attack happened near Rubaya, in North Kivu, and came after several days of sustained drone attacks on the area by the DRC army, one of the senior M23 officials told Reuters.

Rubaya is a strategic coltan-mining hub that produces about 15% of the world’s supply, making it a key financial stronghold for the M23 rebels. The DRC government recently added the site to a shortlist of strategic mining assets being offered to the US under a minerals co-operation framework.

Civil society sources reported heavy fighting in several localities near Rubaya since Sunday, forcing hundreds of families to flee the area.

The killing of Ngoma comes as Qatar-mediated ceasefire efforts continue, with Kinshasa and M23 having signed agreements in Doha to establish a joint ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism involving Qatar, the US and the AU as observers.

Ngoma had been under EU sanctions since December 2022 for his role as the M23 spokesperson.

A spokesperson for the DRC presidency declined to comment, and a spokesperson for the DRC’s army did not immediately respond.

M23, which the UN says is backed by Rwanda, controls large swathes of North and South Kivu provinces after a rapid offensive last year in which the rebels seized the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu.

The rebels briefly captured the city of Uvira in December, and the DRC army retook it last month. The DRC reopened its border with Burundi there on Monday.

The UN peacekeeping mission in DRC deployed a joint exploratory assessment team to Uvira this week to support the implementation of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism agreed upon in Doha and evaluate security conditions in the area.