At least nine dead in Congo drone strike that killed rebel spokesperson, sources say

DAKAR, Feb 25 (Reuters) – The drone strike that killed M23 military spokesperson Willy Ngoma in eastern Congo this week left at least nine people dead but narrowly missed the rebels’ military commander, who escaped unharmed, four sources told Reuters.

The strike hit near Rubaya, a strategic mining hub controlled by M23 that produces around 15% of the world’s supply of coltan and was recently added to a shortlist of mining assets being offered by the Congolese government to the United States under a minerals cooperation framework.

Ngoma’s death marks a sharp escalation in the conflict, removing one of the M23’s most visible senior figures as fighting intensifies despite efforts by mediators including Qatar to broker a ceasefire.

Details of Tuesday’s drone strike were provided to Reuters by an intelligence source, two rebel sources, a senior military official and a U.N. source. 

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity. M23 has not commented on the strike and a spokesperson for Congo’s army did not respond to a request for comment.

Nine dead bodies have been transported from the site of the strike to Goma, the biggest city in eastern Congo, according to two of the sources. The senior military official told Reuters that at least seven other bodies could not be retrieved because they had been reduced to ashes.

M23 military commander Sultani Makenga was in the area shortly before the strike, the sources said. 

A spokesperson for the Wazalendo, a loose coalition of self-defense groups fighting alongside the Congolese army, said in a statement that Makenga fled to a nearby church. 

Fighting between M23 rebels, which U.N. experts say are backed by Rwanda, and Congolese forces supported by Wazalendo continued on Wednesday in Masisi territory, residents told Reuters.

In a series of posts on X since Tuesday, M23 political spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka accused Congolese forces of triggering a “total war across all front lines” in several parts of North and South Kivu provinces.

(Reporting by Clement Bonnerot in Dakar, Giulia Paravicini in Nairobi and Congo newsroom; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Toby Chopra)