Congo Files - Part 1
TH-S1 · East African city in ruins at dawn
A UN report. 3,000 to 4,000 foreign troops. One word for what that makes it.
A UN Security Council investigative body documented direct and decisive foreign military involvement in eastern DRC. Named commanders. A city of two million fell in three days. $800 million in minerals exported through the country denying it was there. All named. All on the public record.
TH-S2 · UN Report S/2024/432
UN Security Council · Report S/2024/432 · Final report, Group of Experts02 / 07
Direct and decisive. That is the UN's own language. Not allegation. Finding.
The UN Group of Experts on the DRC documented in its final report, S/2024/432, that RDF military interventions in Rutshuru, Masisi and Nyiragongo extended "beyond mere support for M23 operations to direct and decisive involvement."
This allowed RDF and M23 "to achieve military dominance" and rapid territorial expansion. Between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan troops were documented as deployed in those territories.
This is not commentary. It is the finding of a UN-mandated investigative body.
Source: UN Security Council Report S/2024/432, June 2024 · S/2024/969, December 2024
TH-S3 · Three commander photographs
Named individuals · Sultani Makenga · Corneille Nangaa · Bertrand Bisimwa03 / 07
These are not anonymous fighters. They are named, documented, and in contact with Rwandan military command.
Sultani Makenga and Bertrand Bisimwa lead M23 militarily and politically. Corneille Nangaa, former head of the DRC's electoral commission, founded the Congo River Alliance (AFC) which M23 operates under.
The UN's June 2025 report S/2025/446 documented that named Rwandan-Congolese contacts, including Brigadier General Patrick Karuretwa, remained in frequent contact with Makenga and Bisimwa.
Rwanda reportedly planned to reinstate sanctioned commander Laurent Nkunda to AFC/M23 leadership, according to the same report.
Source: UN Security Council Report S/2025/446, July 2025 · Wikipedia, M23 campaign, named leadership
TH-S4 · Soldiers marching through forest
Rwanda Defence Force · Denied publicly · Documented by the UN04 / 07
Rwanda denied troop presence throughout. One week before Goma fell, Rwandan officials told the UN Kagame had already decided to take it.
Rwanda's government denied military involvement publicly throughout the conflict. The UN Group of Experts documented otherwise.
Its June 2025 report stated: "One week prior to the Goma attack, Rwandan officials confidentially informed the Group that President Paul Kagame had decided to imminently take control of Goma and Bukavu."
By 2025, estimates put 4,000 to 7,000 RDF soldiers fighting in Congo, with satellite imagery showing significant expansion of a military cemetery in Kigali since the offensive began.
Source: UN Group of Experts Report S/2025/446, June 2025 · Black Agenda Report, June 2025
TH-S5 · Aerial view of Goma
January 27 2025 · Goma falls · Population two million05 / 07
January 4: Masisi. January 27: Goma. The UN Security Council demanded the advance stop immediately. It did not stop.
On January 4 2025, AFC/M23 and RDF took control of Masisi centre in North Kivu. On January 27 2025, following RDF reinforcements, AFC/M23 and RDF took full control of Goma, provincial capital of North Kivu with a population of around two million.
The UN Security Council issued a press statement on January 26 condemning the advance and demanding it stop immediately. The demand was not met. Bukavu, the South Kivu capital, fell shortly after.
Source: UN Security Council Press Statement, January 26 2025 · UN Report S/2025/446 · Wikipedia, 2025 Goma offensive
TH-S6 · Hands holding coltan ore
Coltan · $800 million · April to December 2024 · Named by the UN06 / 07
$800 million. Nine months. Exported through Rwanda. Documented by the UN. Confirmed by Rwanda's own president.
According to the UN, M23 made $800 million in revenue related to coltan mining between April and December 2024 alone, exporting illegally through Rwanda.
Coltan is essential to capacitors in phones, laptops and electric vehicle batteries. President Paul Kagame himself acknowledged that Congolese minerals transit through Rwanda to Brussels, Tel Aviv, Russia and Dubai.
The DRC government filed a lawsuit in a European court against Apple, accusing it of using illegally mined minerals from Congo to make electronics.
Source: UN findings cited in Wikipedia, M23 campaign · Oakland Institute, "Shafted," 2025 · DRC v Apple lawsuit, December 2024
TH-S7 · Empty UN Security Council chamber
The question. Not a claim.07 / 07
A UN report documents direct and decisive foreign military involvement. Named commanders. A city of two million falls in three days. What do you call this, and why does the world keep calling it something else?
Tomorrow: the scale. 7 million displaced. The largest displacement crisis in Africa. Named figures, named dates, named findings on sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Some stories are buried on purpose. We dig.
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