Former Congolese President Joseph Kabila has launched a new political and military coalition, including the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group, which has captured vast areas of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Kabila introduced the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN) at a news conference on Monday at his residence in the eastern city of Goma, which the M23 has controlled since January 2025.
Kabila said he will head the FRN with rebel leaders, including Corneille Nangaa, the former leader of the Congo River Alliance (AFC) and the political wing of M23, serving as his deputies.
Claude Ibalanky, a coalition adviser, said the group aims to unite all resistance forces “to put an end to tyranny by any means necessary, including the use of force”.
There was no immediate response to the announcement from the DRC government.
Reporting from Goma, Al Jazeera’s Alain Uaykani said there were growing fears that fighting in eastern DRC could escalate.
“Kabila addressed the nation, explaining his plan. People are making comments across the country that this is another level of the conflict,” Uaykani explained.
Uaykani said rebels already hold Goma, Bukabu, the airports and key border crossings with Rwanda and Uganda, and that the government has been unable to push them back. Talks to resolve the conflict have also failed, with each side blaming the other.
Credit: aljazeera.com
