Security forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been battling the M23 rebel group in the east of the country since 2012. However, there has been a major upsurge in fighting so far this year.
The M23 has seized significant swathes of territory, pushing deeper into North Kivu province. It now controls at least 100 towns and villages and fighting has intensified around the provincial capital, Goma, which is already home to around 700,000 displaced people.
To contain and repel the insurgent group’s advance, the state’s beleaguered security forces have become increasingly reliant on a large number of ethnic militias. State control in the east of the DRC looks to have collapsed, and the M23 insurgency is fast becoming a serious threat to the stability of central Africa.
