FDLR kills 19-year-old woman, 15 cows in Masisi, says AFC/M23

Attacks by Congolese government coalition forces on Thursday, February 26, reportedly killed a 19-year-old girl and 15 cows in Masisi territory in eastern DR Congo.

The attacks on Mweso and Kitshanga areas were carried out by Kinshasa-backed FDLR, according to AFC/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka.

In a Friday post on X, Kanyuka condemned the “barbaric and despicable crimes committed every time [the government coalition] launch a generalised war, surfacing with shocking cruelty.”

Kanyuka said that the FDLR militiamen deliberately target the “livelihoods of civilian populations in a logic of terror, collective punishment, and economic strangulation.”

The Kinshasa-backed FDLR is part of a coalition formed by the Congolese armed forces, alongside the Burundi National Defence Force, Wazalendo, and foreign mercenaries.

The attack came as AFC/M23 rebel movement accused Kinshasa of launching widespread attacks in violation of a ceasefire agreed in Doha, Qatar in 2025.

The movement has maintained that the reported operations risk escalating the conflict and worsening an already fragile humanitarian situation in eastern DR Congo.

The recent attacks were carried out in the areas of Rubaya, Kitendebwa, Kashihe, and Kiduveri.