M23 and Wazalendo fighting spreads across Masisi as school exams go ahead

# M23 and Wazalendo fighting spreads across Masisi as school exams go ahead

On 2025-07-29, Radio Okapi reported renewed fighting between AFC/M23 rebels and Wazalendo fighters in several parts of Masisi Territory in North Kivu. The clashes came as national exam sitting continued under tense security conditions, with shells and gunfire heard around villages in the area.

The source said the heaviest fighting took place in Nyamaboko 1er groupement, where local accounts described combat on Ndete hill near Kazinga village. Elsewhere, the AFC/M23 had already occupied Shoa and Shamarambo in Buabo groupement the previous day and then kept pressing attacks toward Nyamaboko. The reporting places these events inside a fast-moving front line rather than a single isolated exchange.

The armed groups named in the report included Wazalendo fighters from the Forces de défense des droits humains, or FDDH, as well as other Nyatura-linked factions operating in the zone. Radio Okapi said the fighting also followed earlier exchanges around Luke and Nyabiondo in Osso Banyungu sector. That broader geography suggests multiple positions were under pressure at once.

Civilian movement was an immediate consequence. The source said many residents fled Ndete, Ngululu and nearby villages toward Waloa Yungu in neighboring Walikale Territory. No casualty total was provided, but the report is clear that the fighting was causing displacement and uncertainty across the area.

The article also noted that the violence complicated the government's education calendar. In nearby localities, exam centers had to be moved because the security situation was deteriorating. Radio Okapi described the atmosphere as one in which the exam process continued, but under intense fear and interruption from the battlefield.

The report tied the violence to wider diplomatic efforts. Local actors quoted in the article said the renewed combat was putting the Doha and Washington peace tracks at risk. That warning matters because the clashes were not described as a brief incident; they were presented as part of a rolling confrontation across Rutshuru and Masisi.

For a routine news account, the strongest takeaway is the combination of scale and instability. The source does not offer a formal government response, and it does not say whether either side made territorial gains beyond the immediate villages listed. What it does show is that the M23-Wazalendo conflict continued to spread pressure across populated areas on July 29.

The result was a familiar pattern in eastern Congo: armed groups contesting ground, residents leaving quickly, and state institutions trying to function anyway. In this case, school exams became one more measure of how much the violence was distorting ordinary life in North Kivu.