FARDC and Wazalendo have retaken Masisi centre and Ngungu.How long will they hold on?

Reports from Frontline indicate that FARDC and Wazalendo forces have just recaptured Masisi center after intense fighting.

The claim is that M23 were using civilians to shelter themselves from the gun fire.They were hiding in houses of civilians 

The army has also reported the recapture of Ngungu. The M23 is reportedly in disarray with many dead bodies of young men littered everywhere. 

The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), supported by the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP) Wazalendo, managed to take over Masisi Centre, in the province of North Kivu, from the hands of the M23 rebels this Wednesday, January 8, 2025, after clashes that intensified on the hill of Kahongole, which overlooks Masisi Centre. However, violent clashes continue in the area.

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“The fighting started early this morning and, at present, the young Wazalendo of General Kagiri are visible in the city of Masisi,”.

He added that the situation remains volatile, although Congolese forces have managed to penetrate the center.

The fighting was triggered after an offensive launched by the FARDC on January 7, 2025. According to the FARDC spokesperson in North Kivu, this counteroffensive made it possible to recover several localities that were previously occupied by the M23 rebels and their allies.

The FARDC and the VDP Wazalendo continue to hold their positions and seek to definitively push back the rebels. The humanitarian situation in the region is worsening overnight.

In addition to these clashes, our sources report that other clashes are reported in Kaniro and several villages in Kinigi.

There has been Several days of fighting near Bitagata, a hill whose control was shared between the M23 and Wazalendo, this hill finally came under the total control of the Wazalendo and FARDC. The rebels abandoned 17 bodies of their fallen elements to retreat to the hill overlooking Rwangara.

According to witnesses on the spot, the clashes are particularly concentrated on Kahongole hill, located in the Mont Ngaliema district of Masisi. Loud detonations of heavy and light weapons are heard there.

Several sources indicate that the M23-RDF rebels have already been pushed back from the center of Masisi and that the fighting is towards Lushebere.

On the night of Monday to Tuesday, January 7, 2025, the house of the Binza group leader was looted by the M23 rebels, 68 BG28 sheets, cement and several other valuables taken away.

In December 2024, the RDF M23 had for the first time organized a search in the house of the Binza group leader, Mr. Jérôme Nyamuhanzi.

Reports also have it that his DT 125 motorcycle, which he used for travel, was taken away by these rebels.

Since the arrival of the M23 elements in the Zone, the leader has been taking refuge in Uganda and according to several sources, the  M23 have installed a new leader of the Binza group.

The Binza group is located north of the Rutshuru territory, along the border with Uganda and Lake Edward.

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