Drone Strike in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo Kills Senior M23 Commander
A major blow to the M23 rebel organization despite ongoing ceasefire talks came early Tuesday when Lieutenant-Colonel Willy Ngoma, the military spokesperson for the group, was killed in a drone strike near Rubaya in North Kivu province, according to numerous reports.
A Western government consultant, a regional diplomat, and a senior M23 official quoted by Reuters said the strike happened at around three in the morning close to Rubaya, a major coltan-mining town that produces around 15% of the world’s supply.
M23 political spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka wrote on X only hours before Ngoma’s passing, accusing Kinshasa of breaking the truce by “unleashing a total war across all front lines” and carrying out “indiscriminate” airstrikes of Rubaya that “massacred innocent civilians.”
Later, the rebel group published an obituary denouncing the “grave acts” committed by the government.In addition to being designated by the United States in 2023 for alleged involvement in human rights crimes, such as deaths and sexual violence, Ngoma had been subject to European Union sanctions since December 2022 for his position as M23 spokesperson.
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