Democratic Republic of the Congo - July 2025

At least 319 civilians had been killed in several attacks carried out by the M23 rebel group in July on villages and communities in the eastern province of North Kivu. It is one of the highest death tolls documented in such attacks since 2022. The rebels were reportedly aided by the Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF), which has allegedly been supporting the M23 in its ongoing armed conflict with the government of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other armed groups in the east of the country. According to Human Rights Watch, the killings were part of an M23 operation against the FDLR (Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda), an ethnic Hutu rebel group formed by the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Most of those killed were Hutu, with many summarily executed. The allegations were denied by the M23 and the Rwandan government, who had both recently signed agreements with the DRC government intended to end the armed conflict. 

Sources: United Nations, Jeune Afrique, Human Rights Watch, British Broadcasting Corporation