KABILA FORMS COALITION WITH M23 REBELS IN DR CONGO

Former Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila has formed a new political and military coalition with the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group. He announced the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation on Monday at a press conference in Goma, the eastern city M23 has controlled since January 2025. Kabila will lead the coalition, with rebel leaders including Corneille Nangaa as his deputies. A coalition adviser, Claude Ibalanky, said the group aims to unite resistance forces "to put an end to tyranny, by any means necessary including the use of force." The Congolese government had not responded to the announcement, according to one report.

Kabila led the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2001 to 2019, succeeding his father, Laurent Kabila, who was killed by a bodyguard. He has rarely appeared in public since leaving office after elections in 2018. Congolese authorities sentenced Kabila to death in absentia a year ago over alleged complicity with M23, which he denies. Nangaa previously led the Congo River Alliance, the now-dissolved political wing of M23. Representatives of the Congolese government and M23 had been expected to meet in Qatar in November for talks aimed at ending the fighting.

Yvon Muya, a researcher at the University of Ottawa, said the announcement increases the likelihood of direct confrontation between Kabila and President Felix Tshisekedi. Muya said an escalation on the military front in eastern Congo was likely. The announcement comes amid debate in Congo over possible changes to the constitution, which limits presidents to two five-year terms, ahead of the end of Tshisekedi's second term in 2028. Analysts have said the new coalition could undermine the planned talks in Qatar between the government and M23.