M23 rebels backed by Rwanda killed 141 villagers in North Kivu in July, with massacres in at least 14 villages between July 10 and 30. The attacks primarily targeted ethnic Hutu villagers and were framed as operations against the Hutu extremist militia FDLR. The scale of killings is likely higher; U.N. investigators reported at least 319 villagers killed in the same campaign. Rwandan soldiers reportedly participated in M23 operations, though Rwanda and the M23 disputed U.N. findings. The M23, led by Congolese Tutsis and backed by Rwanda, resumed major operations in late 2021 and captured territory as violence escalated earlier this year. Eastern Congo's long-running conflict traces back to the 1994 Rwandan genocide and arrival of Hutu extremists, fueling decades of wars and instability amid valuable mineral reserves.
The rights organization found that the rebels committed massacres in at least 14 villages in the province of North Kivu, in eastern Congo, between July 10 and 30. The attacks targeted mostly ethnic Hutu villagers, according to Human Rights Watch, as part of an apparent military campaign by the M23 against the Hutu extremist militia Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR.
The scale of the recent killings in North Kivu is likely larger than reported by Human Rights Watch, which compiled a list of the people either killed or feared dead. Referring to the same armed campaign, the U.N. announced in early August that the M23 had killed at least 319 villagers in North Kivu, citing firsthand accounts gathered by U.N. rights investigators. Rwandan soldiers reportedly took part in the M23 operations.
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