How dangerous these Weapons are that M23 rebels in Congo are using to fight

The 23 March Movement (M23) is a former Tutsi rebellion that took up arms at the end of 2021 and conquered several localities in Rutshuru territory, including Bunagana, a strategic town on the border with Uganda.

After several weeks of calm, the rebels resumed their offensive on 20 October and extended their hold westwards, occupying localities on the RN2.

The DRC accuses neighbouring Rwanda of supporting this rebellion, which Kigali denies, accusing in return the Congolese army of receiving support from the Rwandan Hutu rebels of the FDLR (Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda.

The M23 was originally made up of soldiers who participated in a mutiny from the Congolese national army in April and May 2012. These soldiers were previously members of the National Congress for the Defense of the People, a former Rwanda-backed rebel group. They claimed their mutiny was to protest the Congolese government’s failure to fully implement the March 23, 2009 peace agreement (hence the name M23), which had integrated them into the Congolese army.

In June 2012, the then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, describe the M23’s leaders as, “among the worst perpetrators of human rights abuses in [Congo], or in the world.” They included Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, who has since been convicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

Human Rights Watch documents war crimes by M23 forces that, with support from Rwanda, took over large parts of North Kivu province in 2012. At the time, Rwandan officials may have been complicit in war crimes through their continued military assistance to M23 forces, Human Rights Watch said. The Rwandan army deployed its troops to eastern Congo to directly support the M23 rebels in military operations.

UN investigators also said that Ugandan army commanders had sent troops and weapons to reinforce some M23 operations and assisted the group with recruiting. After the M23 briefly captured Goma, UN-backed government troops forced them back into Rwanda and Uganda. The group has powerful weapons like

firepower and and dangerous equipment, which is increasingly sophisticated, specifically in terms of long-range fire capacities, mortas and machine guns as well as specion fire against aircraft.

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