March 23 Movement in the context of "Kivu conflict"

The East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) sometimes called the (EAC Force) or East African Regional Force is a regional peacekeeping force from the East African Community (EAC) deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in November 2022 to help restore peace and stability in its eastern region. The EACRF deployment was in response to rebel violence in the eastern DRC, specifically due to a major offensive from rebel group M23. Its army is composed out of troops from Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda.

The M23 rebellion was an armed conflict in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, that occurred between the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group and Congolese government forces between 4 April 2012 and 7 November 2013. It ended when a peace agreement was made among eleven African nations, and the M23 troops surrendered in Uganda. The rebellion was part of continued fighting in the region after the formal end of the Second Congo War in 2003. The conflict reignited in late 2021 after M23 rebel leader Sultani Makenga and 100 rebel fighters attacked the border town of Bunagana but failed. A few months later, M23 rebels officially restarted offensive operations, rapidly expanding their control over vast regions of North Kivu.

In April 2012, former National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) soldiers mutinied against the DRC government and the peacekeeping contingent of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Mutineers formed a rebel group called the March 23 Movement (M23), also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army. It was composed of former members of the rebel CNDP, and allegedly sponsored by the governments of the neighbouring states of Rwanda and Uganda.

The Congo River Alliance (French: Alliance Fleuve Congo; AFC) is a Congolese rebel coalition led by former Independent National Electoral Commission President Corneille Nangaa. The coalition consists of armed opposition groups and political parties that seek to overthrow the internationally recognised government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The coalition's principal member is the March 23 Movement (M23), a Rwandan-backed rebel group which has been the target of economic sanctions by the United States and United Nations.

The M23 campaign is an ongoing series of military offensives launched by the March 23 Movement (M23), a Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, since March 2022. In November 2021, M23 first launched attacks against the Congolese military (FARDC) and MONUSCO, seizing military positions in Ndiza, Cyanzu, and Runyoni in North Kivu Province. This coincided with the deployment of Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) to the region to combat the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel group operating in the Congo's North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

The conflict escalated between March and June 2022, as M23 overran key areas in Rutshuru Territory, including the strategic border town of Bunagana, forcing Congolese soldiers to flee into Uganda. Uganda alleged that Rwanda orchestrated the offensive to undermine UPDF operations against the ADF, while Rwanda counterclaimed that Uganda was leveraging M23 elements to threaten its national security. The DRC accused Rwanda of provisioning armaments and reorganizing the insurgency, a claim substantiated by a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Group of Experts report. Rwanda and M23, in turn, accused the DRC of collaborating with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and claimed their campaign aimed to protect Banyamulenge from FDLR aggression. A UNSC report noted that Rwandan military incursions into Congolese territory had begun prior to alleged FARDC-FDLR cooperation, with analysts posited that M23's resurgence was primarily driven by economic and commercial interests rather than ethno-political or security concerns.