2025 Goma offensive

Goma offensive
Part of the M23 offensive (2022–present)
Date January 23 – 30, 2025 (1 week) Location Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo 01°40′46″S 29°14′01″E / 1.67944°S 29.23361°E / -1.67944; 29.23361 Result M23 victory
Belligerents
Congo River Alliance March 23 Movement  Rwanda	DR Congo  SADC  United Nations
Commanders and leaders
Corneille Nangaa[1]	Peter Cirimwami Nkuba †
Units involved
M23 forces Rwanda Defence Force[2]	FARDC 3rd Defence Zone 34th military region[3] Congolese National Police[3] "Wazalendo" militia[4] Romanian mercenaries[4] SAMIDRC MONUSCO
Strength
Total unknown 500–1,000 Rwandan soldiers[2]	Total unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	2,000+ soldiers and police surrendered[5][6] 17 peacekeepers killed[a] 280+ mercenaries captured[9][10]
Total: 773 killed and 2,880 wounded[11]

The Goma offensive was a military campaign launched by the March 23 Movement (M23), a Congolese rebel group that is part of the Congo River Alliance (AFC) and is supported by Rwanda, against the regional capital of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It lasted from January 23 to January 30, 2025. The campaign was part of the larger M23 offensive in the North and South Kivu provinces of the DRC, which resumed in October 2024 after a pause. During January 2025 the M23 rebels made a rapid advance in the Kivu region, cutting off the road connections to the North Kivu provincial capital Goma by January 23 and arriving at the city on January 25.

The military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), assisted by United Nations and SADC peacekeepers, and the Wazalendo pro-government militias, prepared a defensive line in northern Goma. The initial M23 attack on January 25 was held back, but the next day the group's forces broke through and entered the city. Fighting occurred throughout Goma on January 27, with M23 reaching the city center, though it remained contested. The FARDC continued to hold the Goma International Airport, which became the largest holdout, and several other strategic locations. The airport was captured on January 28 when the Congolese soldiers there surrendered. As of January 29, M23 controlled most of the city as sporadic fighting continued on the outskirts, especially in northern Goma. FARDC troops and Wazalendo militiamen were still resisting in the outskirts of northern Goma as of January 30, though later that day most of the fighting stopped.

Rwanda, which is widely reported to be supporting M23 with soldiers and weapons, was as a result ordered on January 24 to cease all diplomatic and consular activities as well as leave Kinshasa, the DRC's capital, in light of the offensive towards the city. The DRC also recalled its diplomats from Rwanda. UN sources estimated that between 500 and 1,000 Rwandan troops assisted M23 in the Goma area. On January 27, the Congolese and Rwandan armies exchanged fire across their border near Goma.

The fall of the city has been the largest escalation in the Kivu conflict since the M23 briefly occupied Goma in 2012 and has created concerns that the M23 conflict could turn into a larger regional war due to the presence of troops from Rwanda and Burundi in North and South Kivu. Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi called for a national mobilization, and the deputy prime minister for defense Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita said that there will be no negotiations with M23. The leader of the rebel coalition, Corneille Nangaa, said that the group intends to continue all the way to the national capital Kinshasa.

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