{"id":55826,"date":"2025-10-02T13:26:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T13:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/drc-forces-launch-airstrikes-on-afc-m23-held-areas-in-north-kivu\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T13:21:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T13:21:39","slug":"drc-forces-launch-airstrikes-on-afc-m23-held-areas-in-north-kivu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/drc-forces-launch-airstrikes-on-afc-m23-held-areas-in-north-kivu\/","title":{"rendered":"DRC forces launch airstrikes on AFC\/M23-held areas in North Kivu"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to the rebel coalition, the attacks targeted densely populated areas, destroying homes and prompting many residents to flee. Casualty figures have not yet been independently confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>In Rutshuru, M23 reports indicate that three homes in the Kisisile area of the Bukoma groupement were destroyed, approximately three kilometres from the town centre. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, in Walikale\u2019s Ikobo groupement, local residents fled or barricaded themselves in their homes after a drone strike in Buleusa. Schools in the area were suspended on October 2 as parents expressed concern for the safety of their children.<\/p>\n<p>Lawrence Kanyuka, AFC\/M23 spokesperson, called on the national and international community to witness what he described as the ongoing targeting of civilians by FARDC forces. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese operations are coordinated from military headquarters in Uvira and Bujumbura,\u201d he said, adding that AFC\/M23 considers itself obliged to intervene to protect civilians.<\/p>\n<p>The renewed violence comes amid efforts by international parties, including Qatar, to silence the guns in the troubled eastern region.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95495 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/rutsh-595f4.jpg\" alt=\"According to the rebel coalition, the attacks targeted densely populated areas, destroying homes and prompting many residents to flee. Casualty figures have not yet been independently confirmed.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95493 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/g2px-96wkaai50s.jpg\" alt=\"Lawrence Kanyuka, AFC\/M23 spokesperson, called on the national and international community to witness what he described as the ongoing targeting of civilians by FARDC forces. \" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95496 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/g2o_ovbx0aav2yo.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-95492 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/g2px--bwmaa3ven.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) carried out airstrikes and drone attacks on areas controlled by the AFC\/M23 rebel group in North Kivu, including Rutshuru and Lubero, on the night of October 1\u20132, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000095494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-55826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","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":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","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":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000095494,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/rutsh-8b059.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/rutsh-8b059.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/rutsh-8b059.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/rutsh-8b059.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/rutsh-8b059.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/rutsh-8b059.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55826","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=55826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000095494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55826"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=55826"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=55826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}