A failed assassination attempt on AFC/M23 Coordinator Corneille Nangaa has been linked to a covert operation by President Félix Tshisekedi’s forces, following a deadly bombing that struck a civilian gathering in Bukavu on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
Reports indicate that Tshisekedi had secretly deployed Wazalendo militias to infiltrate the meeting, with orders to disrupt the rally and assassinate Nangaa and other M23 leaders. This revelation was first exposed in a video by a Congolese activist, which circulated on social media a day before the attack, warning of a plan to wreak havoc at the gathering and eliminate key figures of the movement.
Despite the explosion that killed and injured multiple civilians, Nangaa and other senior leaders—including Bertrand Bisimwa, Freddy Kaniki, and Benjamin Mbonimpa—survived unharmed. The AFC/M23 movement has denounced the attack as an act of terrorism, condemning the Kinshasa regime’s growing brutality against civilians.
“Tshisekedi’s regime has just carried out the threat that was circulating online, targeting those who attended the AFC/M23 meeting,” Bisimwa stated.
The Bukavu attack follows weeks of bombings in South Kivu, where Tshisekedi’s forces have used drones to indiscriminately strike villages, schools, and health centers far from the front lines. The city of Bukavu, located just three kilometers from the Rwandan border, was recently captured, and life had only begun to return to normal before this latest act of violence.
The AFC/M23 movement is calling on the international community to intervene, warning that Tshisekedi’s regime, emboldened by external support, has resorted to extreme tactics to maintain power, even at the cost of innocent lives.