Lieutenant-Colonel Willy Ngoma, the long-standing military spokesperson for the M23 rebel group, has been killed in a precision drone strike in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The strike, which occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, February 24, 2026, targeted a rebel enclave near the strategic mining town of Rubaya in North Kivu province.
Senior M23 officials, regional diplomats, and Western advisors confirmed that the predawn attack was the result of a sustained aerial campaign by the Congolese army (FARDC). Rubaya is a critical financial hub for the insurgency, producing approximately 15% of the world’s coltan. The loss of Ngoma, a high-profile figure who had been under European Union and U.S. sanctions for human rights violations since 2022, represents a significant symbolic and operational blow to the Rwanda-backed movement.
The killing comes at a precarious moment for regional stability. Despite ongoing Qatar-mediated peace talks in Doha and a recently signed ceasefire agreement involving the U.S. and the African Union as observers, heavy fighting has surged across the region. Hours before his death, M23 political spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka had accused the government in Kinshasa of “unleashing total war” and violating the truce.
The conflict in eastern Congo remains one of the world’s most severe humanitarian disasters, with over 7 million people displaced. While the Congolese presidency has declined to comment officially on the strike, the escalation threatens to derail fragile diplomatic efforts brokered by international partners. Ngoma’s death signals a potential hardening of positions as both sides continue to trade accusations of ceasefire violations in the resource-rich Kivus.
