# M23 and FARDC trade drone strikes near Goma as the ceasefire frays
> FARDC drones hit an M23 position five miles north of Goma; M23 and Wazalendo militias clash along the Masisi-Walikale border — both sides building up troops in the Kivus despite the US-brokered truce

**Meta:** type: story · date: 2026-06-13 · heads: كيف تنتهي الحروب فعلاً, ما الذي تعطّل · 7 takes · 3 lenses · 5 regions

## Summary

Fighting persisted across the Kivus in June 2026 despite the US-brokered [Washington truce](/ar/n/drc-rwanda-peace-process-2026) and the [M23](/ar/entity/m23)-[Congo](/ar/entity/drc) Doha track. On 2 June [Fardc](/ar/entity/fardc) drones struck an M23 position in Kibati, about five miles north of [Goma](/ar/entity/drc). Through mid-June M23 clashed with pro-government [Wazalendo](/ar/entity/wazalendo) militias along the Masisi-Walikale district border in North Kivu; Wazalendo fighters repelled an M23 push near Buhimba on 13 June, after which M23 drone-bombed positions in Kinyumba and Lwibo. M23 has framed earlier moves — including its December exit from Uvira — as pullbacks under pressure. But both the Congolese government and M23 are reportedly building up troops in North and South Kivu, suggesting the truce is holding on paper while the front rearms.

## By the numbers

- 2 June 2026 — FARDC drone strike on Kibati, ~5 miles north of Goma.
- 13 June — Wazalendo repel M23 at Buhimba; M23 drone-bombs Kinyumba and Lwibo.
- Dec 2025 — M23 exits Uvira amid the stuttering US-brokered ceasefire.
- 7M+ — people displaced by the wider eastern-DRC crisis (UN estimates).
- 2 — parallel peace tracks (Washington state-to-state; Doha with M23).

## Why it matters

The drone exchanges show the ceasefire has frozen no front line — it has bought time both sides are using to rearm. Continued M23-Wazalendo fighting around [Goma](/ar/entity/drc) and the troop buildup in the Kivus keep [Rwanda](/ar/entity/rwanda)-backed M23 and [Fardc](/ar/entity/fardc) one incident away from renewed open war, undercutting the Washington and Doha diplomacy.

## What to watch

- Whether the troop buildup tips into a new offensive on Goma or Bukavu.
- Drone-warfare escalation as both sides field UAVs.
- Wazalendo militias' role and FARDC's reliance on them.
- The MONUSCO drawdown timeline and any security vacuum it leaves.

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### unlabelled
- **UN Security Council Report — DRC June 2026 forecast** (Global, en) — The Security Council's own June 2026 monthly forecast — the official record of where the Council stands on the DRC file, the MONUSCO drawdown and the parallel Washington and Doha tracks, against which battlefield claims can be set.
  Source: https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2026-06/democratic-republic-of-the-congo-34.php
- **International Crisis Group** (Belgium, en) — 
  Source: https://www.crisisgroup.org/rpt/africa/democratic-republic-congo-rwanda/320-m23-offensive-elusive-peace-great-lakes
- **Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/
- **Africa Center for Strategic Studies** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://africacenter.org/spotlight/drc-conflict-new-phase/
- **Al Jazeera** (Qatar, en) — 
  Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/16/m23-says-it-will-exit-drcs-uvira-as-us-brokered-ceasefire-stutters

### granular battlefield tracking
- **Critical Threats / AEI — Congo War Security Review** (United States, en) — Day-by-day tracking of the June 2026 fighting: FARDC's 2 June drone strike on Kibati north of Goma, M23-Wazalendo clashes along the Masisi-Walikale border, and the Congolese troop buildup — documenting how routine the ceasefire breaches have become.
  > "FARDC conducted a drone attack on an M23 position in Kibati, about five miles north of Goma, on June 2."
  Source: https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/congo-war-security-review

### pan-African / ceasefire pressure
- **Africanews** (Republic of Congo, en) — Frames the period as a partial M23 pullback under ceasefire pressure rather than open war, noting withdrawals from towns even as skirmishing continues — the more optimistic reading of a fragile truce.
  > "M23 pulls back from eastern DRC towns as ceasefire pressure mounts."
  Source: https://www.africanews.com/2026/05/12/m23-pulls-back-from-eastern-drc-towns-as-ceasefire-pressure-mounts/

## Across the graph
- Related: [[drc-rwanda-peace-process-2026]], [[paris-rwanda-genocide-memorial]]
- Entities: Drc Conflict, Drc, Rwanda, M23, Fardc, Wazalendo

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Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/ar/n/drc-m23-june-2026-ceasefire-breaches