Overview
- Vivian van de Perre’s briefing to the Security Council Thursday described fighting that is spreading from the Kivus into Tshopo and toward Burundi, with heavy weapons, offensive drones, and GPS jamming and spoofing that can misdirect aircraft striking areas like Kisangani’s Bangoka Airport and parts of Goma.
- Clashes between AFC/M23 and Congo’s army continue despite ceasefire pledges, with the UN saying Rwanda’s military backs M23 and Rwanda’s envoy rejecting that claim.
- MONUSCO says it will keep protecting civilians and supporting any truce, including sheltering nearly 3,000 people at its Fataki base in Djaiba and running 204 patrols that let 18,000 farmers harvest and move crops.
- Access limits and funding cuts have thinned the mission to 7,879 troops out of 11,500 authorized, which officials say hinders monitoring and requires reopening Goma and Kavumu airports to restore safe movement.
- The humanitarian toll is severe with 6.4 million displaced and 26.6 million projected to face hunger in 2026, and a UNICEF staff member was killed in a Goma strike that showed the rising danger to aid workers and civilians.