DAKAR, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The military spokesperson for the M23 rebel group, Willy Ngoma, was killed in an army drone strike in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, a regional diplomat, a senior rebel official and a Western adviser to the government said.
The killing comes as Qatar‑mediated ceasefire efforts continue, with Kinshasa and M23 having signed agreements in Doha to establish a joint ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism involving Qatar, the United States and the African Union as observers.
M23, which the United Nations says is backed by Rwanda, controls large swathes of North and South Kivu provinces after a rapid offensive last year in which the rebels seized the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu.
The attack happened near Rubaya, in North Kivu, at around 3 a.m. (0100 GMT), and came after several days of sustained drone attacks on the area by the Congolese army, the senior M23 official told Reuters.
Rubaya is a strategic coltan-mining hub that produces around 15% of the world’s supply, making it a key financial stronghold for the M23 rebels.
A spokesperson for the Congolese presidency declined to comment and a spokesperson for Congo’s army did not immediately respond.
(Reporting by Clement Bonnerot and Jessica Donati in Dakar, David Lewis in London; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alex Richardson)
