{"id":5123,"date":"2026-02-27T00:48:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T00:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/home\/m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo"},"modified":"2026-02-27T11:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T11:11:13","slug":"m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo","title":{"rendered":"M23 Retakes Two Villages in Eastern Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

What You Need to Know<\/h4>\n

M23 rebels have regained control of the villages of Kasini and Lok in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, after fierce clashes with the army and allied forces. The fighting has led to civilian evacuations as reports of casualties remain unconfirmed. This escalation follows the Congolese army’s announcement of the death of M23’s military spokesperson, Willy Ngoma, in a drone strike.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Africa-Press. <\/strong> <\/span>Local media reported that M23 rebels have regained control of two villages in North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on Thursday after fierce clashes with the army and allied forces.<\/p>\n

Security and civilian sources indicated that the villages of Kasini and Lok in the Masisi territory fell after the rebels launched a counterattack on Wednesday, one day after losing them.<\/p>\n

According to reports, residents began fleeing to safer areas, and an official casualty count from the fighting was not immediately available.<\/p>\n

This escalation in fighting follows the Congolese army’s announcement on Tuesday that it killed Willy Ngoma, the military spokesperson for M23, during operations in the eastern part of the country.<\/p>\n

Reports suggest that Ngoma was killed in a military drone strike near the mining town of Rubaya in Masisi.<\/p>\n

The M23 rebel group has been a significant player in the ongoing conflict in eastern Congo, which has roots in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. The region has been plagued by violence due to various armed groups vying for control, often fueled by ethnic tensions and competition for resources. The Congolese government has struggled to maintain stability, leading to repeated clashes with rebel factions like M23, which emerged in 2012 and has been involved in numerous conflicts since then.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Africa<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What You Need to Know M23 rebels have regained control of the villages of Kasini and Lok in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, after fierce clashes with the army and allied forces. The fighting has led to civilian evacuations as reports of casualties remain unconfirmed. This escalation follows the Congolese army’s announcement of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[120,144,287,286,136,927],"class_list":{"0":"post-5123","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-policy","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-conflict","10":"tag-congo","11":"tag-m23","12":"tag-military","13":"tag-north-kivu"},"yoast_head":"\nM23 Retakes Two Villages in Eastern Congo - Africa Press English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"M23 rebels have retaken two villages in North Kivu, Congo, following clashes with the military and allied forces.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"M23 Retakes Two Villages in Eastern Congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"M23 rebels have retaken two villages in North Kivu, Congo, following clashes with the military and allied forces.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Africa Press English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-27T00:48:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-27T11:11:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1772190541.765106.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"864\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"486\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"M23 Retakes Two Villages in Eastern Congo\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-27T00:48:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-27T11:11:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo\"},\"wordCount\":302,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1772190541.765106.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\",\"conflict\",\"Congo\",\"M23\",\"Military\",\"North Kivu\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/m23-retakes-two-villages-in-eastern-congo\",\"name\":\"M23 Retakes Two Villages in Eastern Congo - 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