This timeline of the M23 campaign (2022–present) covers the period from late-April 2025 to December 2025.

May 2025

30 April–1 May

On 30 April 2025, Congolese Justice Minister publicly declared in Kinshasa that he had procured "tangible evidence" implicating Joseph Kabila in collusion with M23 and accused him of treason, war crimes, and massacres of civilians and soldiers. He added that judicial proceedings await Senate approval to prosecute Kabila and seize his assets as a precaution. In response, Kabila, Moïse Katumbi, Martin Fayulu, and Delly Sesanga issued a joint communiqué calling for an inclusive national dialogue, supported by the Conférence Épiscopale Nationale du Congo (CENCO) and the Église du Christ au Congo (ECC), and appealed for international engagement in the peace process. While welcoming the United States and Qatari peace efforts, they argued these alone were insufficient for lasting peace and emphasized the need for broad Congolese participation. They also raised concerns about a possible U.S.–DRC minerals deal, demanding full transparency, and called for the withdrawal of all foreign fighters and the return of displaced persons. Meanwhile, Massad Boulos, Senior Advisor for Africa to U.S. President Donald Trump, informed Reuters that France, Qatar, Togo, and the United States had established a joint security mechanism to monitor progress in the DRC and Rwanda toward implementing a peace agreement grounded in the Declaration of Principles signed on 25 April. Boulos stated that finalizing U.S.–DRC and U.S.–Rwanda economic agreements is a precondition for signing the broader peace deal. He noted that significant investment interest from Western firms, estimated in the billions of U.S. dollars, depended on the ratification of these agreements. Boulos also reiterated that peace requires Rwanda's military withdrawal and the severance of its support for M23, while the DRC must respond to Rwanda's security concerns regarding anti-Rwandan militias. These conditions were expected to be resolved before the provisional peace agreement scheduled for signing on 2 May.

On 1 May, FARDC and Wazalendo in the city of Uvira. Clashes began around 05:00 in the Kasenga quartier and quickly extended to Kakombe and surrounding hill areas. The outbreak of violence reportedly stemmed from a dispute over FARDC troop deployments to strategic high ground near existing Wazalendo positions. The FARDC intensified its military presence as intermittent gunfire persisted into the late morning.

2 May On 2 May, Wazalendo launched a surprise attack on M23 in Kashovu, Bahunde Chiefdom in Masisi Territory, which is situated approximately 26 miles south of Rubaya. They briefly drove out M23 rebels before being pushed back by a counteroffensive. That same day in Kinshasa, Prime Minister Judith Suminwa welcomed the first group of Congolese military and police personnel, along with their families, who had sought refuge in United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) compounds in Goma following the January M23 incursion into the city. Meanwhile, in Lubero Territory, M23 and Rwandan forces seized Lunyasenge, a town on Lake Edward's western shore, advancing both by land, from Vutsumbi and Kamandi Gite, and across the lake. Lunyasenge, a key fishing point four hours by boat from Kyavinyonge, sits along vital routes toward Butembo, Beni Territory, and the Uganda border via Kasindi-Lubiriha. Heavy clashes with FARDC followed, and images posted online showed FARDC casualties. The exact death toll remains indeterminate, but the town's capture triggered a significant civilian displacement.

3–4 May On 3 May, FARDC officers deployed to Kyavinyonge to coordinate a counter-response as residents evacuated fisheries including Musenda and Kisaka, fleeing toward Kyavinyonge, Mubana, or Kasindi. Joël Vyalengekanya, who leads the Union of Shipowners, Individual Fishermen, and Environmentalists of Kyavinyonge, reported that the Ugandan navy intercepted nearly 70 Congolese fishermen and seized more than 200 canoe engines in recent months. On 4 May, South African Minister of Defence Thandi Modise initiated the withdrawal of South African troops from the DRC, which marked the beginning of the drawdown of forces deployed under SAMIDRC. In Lubero Territory, FARDC spokesperson Colonel Mak Hazukay confirmed Lunyasenge's fall, condemning it as a "flagrant violation of the ceasefire", and cautioned that FARDC may retaliate if the rebels and their Rwandan allies keep advancing. Meanwhile, heavy fighting erupted in Bwito Chiefdom, Lubwe Sud, Businene, Kabizo, and Mutanga, between CMC/FDP-affiliated Wazalendo groups and M23 fighters. Some reports said Wazalendo forces managed to repel the M23, though both parties incurred losses, and the exact number of casualties remains unconfirmed.

5–6 May On 5 May, M23 retook Kabizo, a town it had abandoned five to six months earlier. In Rutshuru Territory, M23 and RDF control key areas like Nroroba and parts of Tongo groupement, including the strategic Kanaba-Mulimbi axis linking Tongo and Kitshanga, while Wazalendo holds Bambo groupement. The same day, the DRC and Rwanda submitted a draft peace proposal under the Washington-led Declaration of Principles. Boulos welcomed the step as progress toward peace. Meanwhile, Wazalendo launched surprise attacks on M23 in Katogota and Kamanyola, which triggered clashes that lasted eight hours in Rutebe, Kayange, and Luzinzi, as well as leaving casualties on both sides and injuring civilians. In Bwito Chiefdom, a mishandled rocket by a local fighter exploded in a market in Bambo groupement, killing four people, including two women and a child, and injuring several others. On 6 May, M23 forces captured Luciga village in the mineral-rich Luhwinja Chiefdom, within Mwenga Territory, where Canadian-owned BANRO once operated before being acquired by Chinese-aligned corporations. The advance followed a brief clash in Lwashanja village, which M23 overtook before proceeding into Luciga. They then maneuvered toward BANRO's operational zones while simultaneously encircling the broader territory via Ngando and Chihumba-Kashanga, using Mparanyi as an entry point. Reports suggest that M23 militants dispersed into various villages, occupying four groupements, Luchiga, Kabalole, Luduha, and Idudwe, and received logistical reinforcements and arms shipments. Observers later sighted M23 units near the Twangiza mining site in Luchiga, having crossed the Lulimbohwe River to Buhamba, situated fewer than five kilometers from the processing facility. Luhwinja Chiefdom eventually fell with little resistance, marking M23's first foothold in Mwenga Territory after two days of fighting Wazalendo.

8–9 May On 8 May, Twangiza Mining halted operations due to the rebel presence. That day, ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger concluded her first official visit to the DRC, meeting with senior officials in Kinshasa to discuss humanitarian challenges and the logistical transfer of hundreds of unarmed FARDC and Congolese National Police (PNC) personnel and their families from Goma to the capital.

On 9 May, Togolese president of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbé met with a Qatari delegation to strengthen bilateral ties and mediate the Rwanda-DRC crisis. In Entebbe, Congolese Deputy Prime Minister Vital Kamerhe met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to discuss eastern DRC's security, as part of a broader parliamentary mission focused on regional cooperation. In Kinshasa, the European Union's ambassador to the DRC Nicolás Berlanga-Martinez reaffirmed support for peace efforts and stressed the need for monitoring mechanisms. He also addressed EU-DRC partnerships, noting the DRC's right to explore ties with other nations, including the U.S.

10–11 May On 10 May, violence escalated in Goma: Shagali Rushingwa was fatally shot in his home in Ndosho; two additional corpses were found in Kyeshero and Himbi; six people were wounded by gunfire in Katoyi and Mabanga North; and three decomposed corpses were discovered in a pit between Kasika and Mabanga Sud, showing signs of murder under unclear circumstances. M23 also conducted a cordon-and-search operation in Ndosho, resulting in the apprehension of dozens of people subsequently presented to the public at Stade de l'Unité in Karisimbi commune. M23 spokespersons claimed that some detainees were FARDC, Wazalendo, or FDLR members allegedly hiding among civilians.

On 11 May, four members of a single household were fatally shot and burned in their home in Kabale Katambi, located in the Rusayo groupement of Bukumu Chiefdom, during a raid by armed men clad in military uniforms. Later that evening, a young shopkeeper was killed in the Turunga neighboring. Additional sweep operations were launched by M23 units in the Rukoko and Katalengwa localities, which demarcate the boundary between Goma and Nyiragongo Territory.

12–13 May On 12 May, a body was recovered in the Katoyi quartier of Karisimbi, and an M23-related shooting in Kyeshero left one driver dead and another wounded. M23's dominion over Goma and Nyiragongo Territory intensified as its combatants enforced curfews and conducted intrusive domiciliary inspections. On the Mugunga–Sake axis, within Masisi Territory, a military cordon was instituted. Roughly 2,000 people were arrested by M23 in Sake, and forcibly transferred to Goma, where a large number were subsequently deported to Rwanda. Despite possessing Congolese IDs, M23 burned the documents and forcibly deported 181 Hutu men, labeling them as "illegal Rwandan nationals". Arrests also proliferated throughout densely populated neighborhoods in Goma's northern zones, including Buhene, Don Bosco, Virunga, Katoyi, Kilijiwe, and Office 1. On 13 May, M23 forces arrested approximately 100 people from the adjacent villages of Ngangi 2 and Ngangi 3, positioned near the Goma–Nyiragongo boundary. Detainees were reportedly held on diverse grounds, ranging from alleged affiliations with the FARDC or Wazalendo to the absence of identification credentials, or due to subjective markers of nonconformity, including the presence of dreadlocks. The detainees were transported to Don Bosco Stadium in Nyiragongo Territory, where M23 forces reportedly conducted individualized interrogations. Those who successfully substantiated their noninvolvement were released, while others were transferred to undisclosed locations. These operations severely disrupted civilian life, preventing many from accessing their workplaces and threatening the livelihoods of affected families. In Walikale Territory, during an M23-led search operation, rebels apprehended and subsequently executed two civilians in Kibati, within the Luberike groupement of Wanianga Sector, amid a market raid. Simultaneously, in Kalehe Territory, hostilities flared along the Kasheke-Lemera axis where Wazalendo repelled M23 units, forcing their withdrawal from Katasomwa to the port zones of Kasheke and Tchofi. In Nyiragongo Territory, a MONUSCO convoy en route from Munigi (Bukumu Chiefdom) to Kitchanga suffered a fatal accident when one vehicle veered off the road and fell into a ravine, killing a Moroccan peacekeeper from the Moroccan Rapid Deployment Battalion (MORRDB) and a Congolese language assistant. Four other Moroccan troops were injured and hospitalized in Goma.

14–15 May