The Arrest of General Masunzu!Is FARDC SAFE?

Lieutenant General Pacifique Masunzu, commander of the 3rd Defense Zone of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), was reportedly arrested this Sunday, according to several military sources.

Witnesses claim that the arrest took place in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province, shortly after the visit of the FARDC Chief of Staff, who was returning from an official mission to Bujumbura, the economic capital of Burundi.

According to intelligence sources inside the army,"TheChief of Staff arrived in Kisangani from Bujumbura. He went to General Masunzu's residence, where his phones were confiscated before he was taken to Kinshasa, the Congolese capital," .

The reasons for the arrest remain unclear.

No official statement from the Congolese army has yet confirmed or commented on the arrest of General Masunzu.

However, several theories are circulating within security circles in Kinshasa. Some suggest alleged links with former President Joseph Kabila, who recently launched a coalition hostile to the Congolese government. Others accuse him of ineffectiveness in the face of the M23 advance in the east of the country.

Other sources claim that the high-ranking officer interfered in operations against General Olivier Gasita. Gasita was forced to leave the city of Uvira, which became the capital of South Kivu province, after the fall of Bukavu, its former capital, to the M23 rebels earlier this year.

General Gasita was suspected by some members of civil society and the Wazalendo militias, supported by Kinshasa, of being a Rwandan spy and of tolerating the advances of the M23. Demonstrations against his installation resulted in deaths and paralyzed the city of Uvira before the army decided to evacuate him, assisted in particular by the Burundi National Defense Force (FDNB).

Yet, both generals are members of the Banyamulenge community, a Tutsi minority that has been persecuted for many years. However, they have always regarded each other with suspicion.

A high-ranking commander with a strategic background

Lieutenant General Pacifique Masunzu, from South Kivu, commanded the 3rd Defense Zone, which covers five provinces: Tshopo, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, and Maniema. Before this appointment, he had commanded the 2nd Defense Zone based in Lubumbashi, Haut-Katanga.

A series of arrests in the Congolese army

His alleged arrest adds to a long list of arrests within the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo).

According to several observers, more than 28 generals have been arrested in recent months, accused of collusion with the enemy or desertion in the face of the front lines.

The M23, a former Tutsi rebellion, took up arms again at the end of 2021, accusing the Congolese authorities of failing to honor their commitments to reintegration. Since the beginning of the year, its fighters affiliated with the Congo River Alliance (AFC) have controlled several strategic, mineral-rich areas in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, as well as their capitals: Goma and Bukavu.

Congolese authorities accuse Rwanda of supporting the rebels, which Kigali firmly denies. Burundi, for its part, has deployed approximately 10,000 soldiers to eastern Congo to fight alongside the FARDC and their allied militias against the M23.

Pending an official statement from the Ministry of Defense or the General Staff, the fate of Lieutenant General Pacifique Masunzu remains uncertain.

FARDC apprehends several ADF collaborators in mambasa

The Congolese army,FARDC have apprehended several collaborators of the ADF terrorists, found in possession of explosives.

These alleged accomplices were presented to the public this Wednesday, November 5, 2025, at the Mambasa territory office.

...still developing the story....our intelligence team is on ground following everything about the report.....

UPDF sergeant opens fire on his superior

A Ugandan army (UPDF) sergeant, drunk, opened fire on his superior, Major Ukoya Gabriel, and three other people on the evening of Saturday, November 1, 2025, in Zale, about 4 kilometers east of the town of Mahagi.

According to initial reports, the sergeant accused his superior of having an affair with his mistress, who was among the victims.

A Ugandan soldier shot and killed his two superiors and two women at point-blank range on Saturday, November 1, 2025, near the Zale airfield, located 4 kilometers from the center of Mahagi, in the Aru territory of Ituri province.

According to our sources, the incident began with a heated argument between two Ugandan army (UPDF) soldiers over a young woman in a bar. One of them, intoxicated, drew his weapon and opened fire, shooting those present at close range.

Two military officers, Major Okoya Gabriel and Sergeant Matthieu Ovuni, as well as two Congolese women, died in the shooting, according to our confidant sources.

All our confidants in Mahagi confirmed the information, stating that the bodies of the two victims were repatriated to Uganda after an investigation by security services and that the perpetrator, a sergeant, fled after the incident but later apprehended by the authorities and remained in custody.

Twirwaneho and wazalendo clash in mikenge

 Since this morning, Tuesday, November 4, 2025, clashes have been taking place between the Wazalendo of the Congolese army and fighters from Twirwaneho, a self-defense group allied with the AFC-M23. According to security sources, the fighting is occurring around Mikengue, in the Fizi highlands of South Kivu province.

This morning, Tuesday, November 4, 2025, intense fighting broke out around Mikengue between the Wazalendo of the FDCC, led by General KAKOBANYA NAKALAMBI Justin, and the enemies of the AFC-M23, Red Tabara FNI ZABAMPEMA. The fighting began this morning and continues until the present time. The FDCC's Wazalendo forces, led by General Kakobanya Nakalambi, have already claimed occupying a large part of Mikenge, and all of Bilalombi has already fallen. Part of Mikenge has also fallen, including the stadium there. In the afternoon, violent fighting was still being reported. These clashes occurred after Twirwaneho and former Senator Moïse Nyarugabo warned of the encirclement and humanitarian blockade of Minembwe and several Banyamulenge villages by the Burundian and Congolese armies.

Islamic State's Al Naba newspaper published two photos taken by the ADF/ISCAP in Ituri, in the eastern part of the DRC.

 

In the third photo, these radical Islamist rebels claim to have captured a Congolese policeman, whom they filmed before killing him. The second image shows the rebels strutting through the village, to the helpless gaze of the local population. One of the rebels stops a vehicle on the road.

The newspaper reports that these events took place last week near the village of Kamangora in Ituri. I personally conducted an intelligence survey  and found no village with that name in this part of the country. However, recent ADF attacks occurred in Mayuwano near Bango in the Mambasa territory of Ituri and in Manguredjipa in the Lubero territory of North Kivu(as I wrote earlier).

* The truth is that the village is Kamagolo. It is found in the chiefdom of Basili, in the territory of Irumu. The ADF killed a police officer and burned a vehicle the previous week, a user told me via a phone call. Through my Open source intelligence survey, found articles from  various local media outlets reporting on the attack in Kamagolo, 45 kilometers from Komanda, on October 25th, which included a police officer killed and a vehicle carrying embers burned. I added the image of the burned vehicle to this post. It's not possible to match the photo of the burned vehicle (PHOTO1) with the one stopped by a rebel (PHOTO2) because the latter is obscured by the Arabic text in the Al Naba newspaper clipping. However, judging by the vehicle's frame, it appears to be the same model.

Independent Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in the South and North Kivu provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

GENEVA - The President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Jürg Lauber (Switzerland), has announced the appointment of Arnauld Akodjenou of Benin, Maxine Marcus of Germany/United States of America and Clément Nyaletsossi Voule of Togo to serve as the three independent members of the recently established Independent Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in the South and North Kivu provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mr. Akodjenou will serve as chair of the commission. 

With resolution S-37/1 of 7 February 2025, adopted at a special session on the situation of human rights in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Human Rights Council decided to establish an independent commission of inquiry, comprising three experts appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council.  

The commission of inquiry was mandated to “investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all the alleged violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including those affecting women and children, those involving sexual or gender-based violence and those committed against internally displaced persons or refugees, and of potential international crimes in the context of the most recent escalation of hostilities in North Kivu and South Kivu Provinces [of the Democratic Republic of the Congo] in January 2025.” 

The three-person commission was further requested to “identify, to the extent possible, the persons and entities responsible for violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, as well as any international crimes, in the context of the most recent escalation of hostilities in North Kivu and South Kivu Provinces in order to ensure that those responsible are held accountable for their actions.” 

The President of the Human Rights Council sought recommendations from various stakeholders and expressions of interest to find highly qualified and impartial candidates to fill these positions. 

In resolution 60/22, adopted on 7 October 2025 at its sixtieth session, the Council reaffirmed “that the mandate of the members of the independent commission of inquiry remains entirely as set out in resolution S-37/1” and requested that their appointment be made before the end of 2025. It further requested that they carry out their first field visit “at the earliest opportunity and, if possible, by January 2026 at the latest.”  

Resolution 60/22 also requested the members of the commission “present an oral update on the situation of human rights in North Kivu and South Kivu Provinces, within the framework of an enhanced interactive dialogue, at [the Human Rights Council’s] sixty-second session [in June-July 2026]” and to “submit a comprehensive report [to the Human Rights Council] on the situation of human rights in the above-mentioned provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, within the framework of an enhanced interactive dialogue, at its sixty-fourth session [in February-April 2027] and to the General Assembly at its eighty-second session [in 2027].” 

Biographies of the members of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in the South and North Kivu provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo  

Arnauld Akodjenou (Benin) is currently serving as Special Advisor for Africa at the Kofi Annan Foundation. From 2014 to 2015, he held the position of Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General at the Assistant Secretary-General level in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Prior to that, from 2011 to 2014, he served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI). Mr. Akodjenou dedicated over 25 years to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), where he held several senior roles, including Regional Coordinator and Special Adviser to the High Commissioner for the South Sudan situation, Inspector General, Director of the Division of Operational Services, and Director of Emergency and Security Services. 

Maxine Marcus (Germany/United States of America) is co-Director and co-Founder of Partners in Justice International.  She is an international criminal prosecutor and investigator with 28 years field-based and courtroom-based practice. She spent nine years as a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and prior to that served as an investigator at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. She served on the UN Commission of Inquiry for Guinea as the Gender and International Criminal Law Adviser; Senior Sexual and Gender-based Violence Advisor to the OHCHR Fact Finding Mission for Sri Lanka; and Senior Legal Investigator to the UN Secretary General's External Panel on Sexual Abuse by International Forces in the Central African Republic. Ms. Marcus is a faculty member of the Institute for International Criminal Investigations and is the 2018 recipient of the Prominent Women in International Law Award by the American Society of International Law. 

Clément Voule (Togo) is a jurist and human rights expert, and the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. Prior to his appointment as Special Rapporteur, he served as Advocacy Director for Africa at the International Service for Human Rights, where he worked to support and protect human rights defenders across the region. Mr. Voule has held several leadership roles in civil society including for the Togolese Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, the Togolese Coalition for the International Criminal Court, and the Amnesty International section in Togo. From 2010 to 2018, he served as an Expert Member of the Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment, and Human Rights Violations under the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.  

ADF kills 8 in Manguredjipa!

 

ADF fighters killed eight people during an incursion into the village of Gwado, less than 5 km west of Manguredjipa, on Wednesday around 10:00 AM. Some villagers were tied up and then shot in a barza (a type of open area), while farmers heading to their fields counted eight dead and two wounded.

This attack follows a previous incursion on Tuesday in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Manguredjipa, where assailants targeting a health center were spotted and pursued. According to authorities, the ADF retreated towards Lingitana before crossing the Manguredjipa-Bandulu road (PK 105 of Butembo) in the early afternoon.

According to intelligence collections from the area, Residents are denouncing the "negligence" of the security services, accusing them of failing to protect the villages of Utiyaba and Gwado. They fear that the attackers will use either the Gwado-Utiyaba-Fatua route, or the Gwado-Biakongo-Bangio-Bhuela route, or even the Masayi-Malewe route leading to Kambau, villages where life was beginning to return to normal after the ADF attack last year.

The Bapere Civil Society, headed by Samuel Kagheni, reported this assessment and called on the authorities to strengthen security in the region to prevent further tragedies.

However,despite today's attack the operation shujaa continues to hunt the terrorists,a ccording to sources close to the army in the operation, Yesterday the  the army Pursued the ADF/MTM Islamist terrorists who were  responsible for the recent attempted looting of the Malunguma Health Center, west of Mangurejipa, the FARDC-UPDF coalition freed two (2) hostages and recovered six (6) cows on Tuesday, October 28, 2025.

Furthermore, during a reconnaissance and combat patrol near the Ituri River, joint units arrested ten (10) young men in Mambume, west of National Route 4. All were Muslim and from Oicha and Biakato.