DRC Drone Strike Kills Senior M23 Leader Near Rubaya

A senior spokesperson for the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo was killed in a drone strike by the Congolese army near the mining town of Rubaya in North Kivu province on Tuesday, according to multiple officials and local sources. Willy Ngoma, a prominent military figure for the Rwanda-backed rebels, died in the predawn attack around 3 a.m. local time, amid escalating clashes in the mineral-rich eastern region.

The strike targeted an area recently used as an M23 enclave, following several days of sustained drone operations by government forces in the vicinity, a senior M23 official told Reuters. Ngoma, who had faced sanctions from the European Union, United Nations, and United States since 2022 for his role in the conflict, was one of the group's most visible leaders. Neither the M23 nor Congolese authorities have publicly confirmed the incident, and a presidential spokesperson declined to comment when contacted.

Rubaya, a strategic hub for coltan mining that supplies about 15 percent of the world's output, has become a focal point of the fighting. The M23 controls large swaths of territory there, providing financial support through the lucrative mineral...