{"id":2000103343,"date":"2026-02-25T18:39:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T16:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000103343"},"modified":"2026-02-25T18:39:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T16:39:39","slug":"afc-m23-slams-international-community-for-silence-amid-kinshasa-offensives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/afc-m23-slams-international-community-for-silence-amid-kinshasa-offensives\/","title":{"rendered":"AFC\/M23 slams international community for silence amid Kinshasa offensives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The AFC\/M23 movement has strongly criticised the international community for remaining silent as the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) launched a large-scale offensive, causing civilian casualties and mass displacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesperson for AFC\/M23, the attacks on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, marked a \u201cnew threshold of violence\u201d by the Kinshasa regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DRC military reportedly used armed drones and heavy artillery to strike densely populated areas as well as M23 positions, in what Kanyuka described as blatant violations of international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strikes were recorded throughout the morning and early afternoon, beginning at 9:00 AM in Rutigita, Minembwe, continuing at 10:30 AM in Kitazungura, Kalehe territory, and culminating at 12:00 PM in Rugezi and surrounding areas of Minembwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese deadly aggressions are causing human casualties, mass displacement of civilian populations, and fueling an extreme humanitarian crisis,\u201d Kanyuka said, highlighting the severity of the situation for local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bertrand Bisimwa, deputy coordinator of AFC\/M23, emphasised that the offensive reflects a deliberate choice by the DRC government to pursue military escalation, violating ceasefire agreements. He also criticised the international community for failing to act:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe cannot help but express our deep concern over the absence, at this stage, of any clear and visible initiative aimed at bringing an immediate halt to this government offensive. There has been no public reprimand, no condemnation\u2026 no discernible action seems to have been taken to prevent the risk of escalation,\u201d Bisimwa stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added, \u201cThis silence contrasts with the swift reactions observed when our movement is forced to exercise its legitimate right to self-defence in the face of direct attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The offensive marks a continuation of rising tensions in the region despite peace efforts by mediators such as Qatar and existing ceasefire commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bertrand Bisimwa, deputy coordinator of AFC\/M23, emphasised that the offensive reflects a deliberate choice by the DRC government to pursue military escalation, violating ceasefire agreements. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The AFC\/M23 movement has strongly criticised the international community for remaining silent as the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) launched a large-scale offensive, causing civilian casualties and mass displacement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000103345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[151,99,69],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000103343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-editors-choice","tag-greatlakesnews","tag-homehighlights","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000103345,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bisimwa-6-56346.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":583,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bisimwa-6-56346.jpg","width":150,"height":87},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bisimwa-6-56346.jpg","width":300,"height":175},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bisimwa-6-56346.jpg","width":768,"height":448},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bisimwa-6-56346.jpg","width":1000,"height":583},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bisimwa-6-56346.jpg","width":1000,"height":583}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000103343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000103343"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000103343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000103347,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000103343\/revisions\/2000103347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000103345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000103343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000103343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000103343"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000103343"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000103343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}