Eastern DRC on Fire Again: Congolese Army Hits M23 with Drones — Why This Should Worry Every Ugandan

The war in eastern Congo just got hotter — and louder.

On Wednesday, government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo launched fresh attacks on the M23 rebels across several fronts in North and South Kivu. They even used drones to bomb a key mining area around Rubaya, a town that produces up to 30% of the world’s coltan the mineral that ends up in the phones, laptops, and electric cars we all use.

M23, which is widely believed to be backed by Rwanda, has been on a roll since 2021, grabbing huge chunks of mineral-rich land. They took Rubaya last April, set up their own “administration” there, and have been controlling the trade ever since. The latest fighting comes just weeks after they pushed towards Uvira near the Burundi border a move that forced the US and Angola to scramble for a ceasefire that clearly isn’t holding.

For us here in Uganda, this is not “somebody else’s war.” Our eastern border is right there. When fighting intensifies, we see more refugees crossing into Kisoro and Bundibugyo, more pressure on our army (UPDF has been in eastern Congo before under different missions), and even risks to trade routes. Coltan, gold, and tin from that region quietly feed into Uganda’s economy through informal networks so when the guns roar, prices fluctuate and some people’s livelihoods shake.