Minembwe: trapped in an endless war in the DRC
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, security remains dire in Minembwe, a locality in South Kivu province. Amid the ongoing violence, the governments of Kinshasa and Kigali have renewed their commitment to peace. Meeting on Wednesday (24 June) in London, both sides agreed to implement the peace deal signed in June 2025, enforce the ceasefire, and reduce tensions around Minembwe.
This administrative entity is a strategic prize. The Congolese army and AFC-M23 rebels are fighting for control, each backed by local militias—the Wazalendo and Twirwaneho respectively.
A war that spares nothing, not even health facilities
Fighting continues daily in this administrative entity within Fizi territory. Almost every day brings new casualties and material destruction, according to a local resident who describes relentless drone bombardments. He says that even the Minembwe general referral hospital and several health centers have been hit: “The pediatric wing was bombed yesterday. The Ilundu health center near the airstrip was also bombed. Every day there is war, and the drones terrorize the population. People have fled. The situation is terrible. These drone attacks keep coming.”
Civilians trapped in an endless war
In recent weeks, the escalation of fighting around Minembwe has forced many civilians to flee. The collective of civil society organizations in South Kivu is now demanding that all signed agreements—starting with the ceasefire—be respected.
“We deplore the fact that civilians continue to be preyed upon by all sides,” says Hypocrate Marume, a member of the South Kivu civil society coordination framework. “The population keeps moving. The crisis is deepening, and it is we, the civilians, who are being killed. As civil society in South Kivu, we reiterate our call for both parties to lay down their arms and talk for peace.”
The battle for a highly strategic area
The clashes in Minembwe are rooted in community tensions and rivalry over control of an area that carries both military and symbolic weight. Professor Philippe Doudou Kaganda, scientific director of the Center for Research on Conflict and Peace in the Great Lakes Region, explains: “Minembwe is a vast expanse that would allow the faction that controls it to launch counter-offensives against adversaries, both in the middle plateaus and in the Ruzizi plain. It’s a crossroads connecting to Mwenga territory. Minembwe has also been a conflict zone for decades. When it is conquered by one faction, it signals a certain victory in a territorial and ethnic war.”
For the residents of Minembwe, peace remains a distant dream. They now live under the constant threat of drone strikes and near-permanent gunfire exchanges.
