At the time, one of the worst reported atrocities of the conflict took place – when more than 150 women prisoners and their children were killed in Munzenze Prison - after an intense fire broke out. The UN says most of the women were probably subjected to sexual violence before they died.

Corneille Nangaa, leader of the AFC rebel alliance that also includes M23, addresses a press conference at the Serena Hotel in Goma, North Kivu province in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo January 30,

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday that about 1 million people have been displaced since the beginning of 2025 from Goma city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) seized by the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels.

Defeated soldiers from the Southern Africa Development Community’s (SADC) peace mission were seen leaving Goma by road without their equipment or uniforms.

The crucial ferries were suspended for several days due to fierce fighting between the army and M23 rebels in the region.

This insecurity extends to Goma itself, where there have been reports of crime and targeted violence, including home invasions and kidnappings. The UN peacekeeping mission for DRC, MONUSCO, has described the security situation in areas seized by M23 rebels as “unstable and highly unpredictable.

Passengers arriving from Bukavu disembark from the Emmanuel boat, on its first trip between Bukavu and Goma since the city was taken by M23 rebels, in Goma, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo February 18,

Rwanda-backed rebels captured a key eastern Congo city a month ago Friday. Residents in Goma say they are struggling on various fronts even as the rebels try to consolidate their administration and restart normal life.

When the Banyene family were sent back to their home in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, all that had survived the fighting was a crumbling wall and sagging metal roof. But at the end of January Goma,

According to the UN, last week the M23 took 116 people from Goma's CBCA Ndosho hospital and 15 others from the Heal Africa hospital, on claims they were members of the DRC's army or pro-government militias.

Businesses are struggling to survive, financial transactions are almost impossible, and people are having trouble making ends meet.

Since January, however, the rapid conquest and occupation of a huge area of the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and the M23 rebel group it supports has raised concerns that the principle may now be endangered.