On Saturday and Sunday, the DRC government forces and armed groups including the FDRL, known as Wazalendo, clashed with the AFC/M23 in parts of Rutshuru Territory in North Kivu Province in the East of the DRC. Wazalendo lost three fighters.
The fighting stemmed from an attack by the Wazalendo coalition on the AFC/M23 in the Nyanzale area and its surrounding areas, which led to the displacement of many civilians living in and around the fighting areas to other areas where there was no fighting.
Information released by civil society organizations operating in the area said that the fighting, which began on Saturday, intensified on Sunday, June 22, 2025, after noon.
The civil society organization further states that AFC/M23 repelled the attack launched by the Wazalendo Alliance, and that the exact number of those killed in the fighting is unknown, but that three bodies of Wazalendo fighters were found in the outskirts of Nyanzale Center, where the fighting took place.
The Nyanzale area has been in the hands of the M23 for quite some time, having been captured by them in March 2024, meaning that the Nyanzale area has been in the hands of the AFC/M23 for a year.
However, despite the ongoing fighting, talks had begun between the DRC government and the M23, with the participation of Qatar, but these talks did not continue because they were suspended in early May, when both sides withdrew from the talks.
It was decided that before the two sides returned to the negotiating table, they would first agree on the basic text of the peace agreement provided by Qatar, meaning that since the beginning of May, no further peace talks would take place.
