M23 senior rebel official killed by drone strike in eastern Congo

Willy Ngoma, a spokesperson for the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels fighting in eastern Congo, has been killed in a drone strike, a U.N. official and a rights group said Tuesday, escalating tensions over the region’s conflict after peace negotiations stalled.

Ngoma, a senior officer who was deeply involved in M23’s operations, was said to have been killed in a predawn drone strike near the North Kivu province’s mining town of Rubaya.

The U.N. official and a coordinator with the rights group working in the area spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Rubaya residents told the AP that the drone strike targeted a spot that has in recent weeks served as an enclave for the M23.

The decades-long conflict escalated in January 2025 after the rebels made an unprecedented advance into the key cities of Goma and Bukavu, further expanding their control of several cities and towns in the hard-hit