Overview

• Between July 9 and July 21, UN investigators documented the killing of at least 319 civilians by M23 fighters, including 48 women and 19 children, in four Rutshuru territory villages.
• These attacks followed a ceasefire signed on June 19 in Doha between the DR Congo government and M23, highlighting the truce’s rapid breakdown.
• First-hand accounts indicate that M23 fighters operated with the support of the Rwanda Defence Force, underlining ongoing cross-border military involvement.
• Other armed groups such as the Allied Democratic Forces, CODECO and Raia Mutomboki also carried out deadly raids across North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri in July.
• The renewed violence has exacerbated eastern Congo’s humanitarian crisis, with over 7.8 million people displaced and 28 million facing food insecurity, while the UN demands accountability for the atrocities.