Fighters of the Front pour la Refondation de la Nation (FRN), the rebel movement now headed by former Congolese president Joseph Kabila, have taken several localities in the Bunyakiri area of Kalehe territory, South Kivu, after an offensive along national road RN3 that began on the night of 6–7 November, according to RFI, Actualite.cd and local sources. The FARDC says it has halted the advance at Bulambika and is preparing a counter-offensive.
What has been reported
RFI, citing Congolese military sources, reported that FRN fighters moved through Kahuzi-Biega National Park before seizing localities on the RN3, the road that links Bukavu to Kisangani via Walikale. Bitale and Bulambika fell after fighting against the Congolese army (FARDC) and the allied Wazalendo militias, and Kambali also came under FRN control, according to RFI and Actualite.cd.
Kivu Morning Post, citing local sources and civil society, reported that the Bunyakiri agglomeration itself and Bulambika were taken on Sunday 8 November, with FARDC and Wazalendo units falling back towards Hombo. Rwanda-based Kigali Daily News dated the capture of Bunyakiri to 7 November. Reports therefore differ on the exact day, and the FARDC disputes how much ground was lost.
Bunyakiri matters because it served as a forward command post and resupply point for FARDC and Wazalendo operations in Kalehe, Kabare and Masisi, according to RFI and Kivu Morning Post. Whoever controls this stretch of the RN3 controls one of the main routes from South Kivu towards Walikale in North Kivu.
Kalehe civil society estimates the FRN advanced about 60 km; other local sources quoted by RFI put it at around 50 km. Kalehe territorial administrator Thomas Bakenga told RFI that more than 160,000 people had been displaced, some towards Hombo on the boundary between South and North Kivu and others into the forest.
FARDC: “The enemy is stopped at Bulambika”
On 7 November the 34th Military Region had said Bunyakiri was still under FARDC control, according to 7sur7.cd. Two days later its spokesman, Major Dieudonné Kasereka, acknowledged the rebel gains at Bitale and Bulambika. “We have fixed the enemy. It is stopped at Bulambika. We are preparing the counter-attack and we will recover all the lost areas,” he told Actualite.cd (translated from French). He said Mubugu, Kambegete, Irangi and Hombo-Sud, also part of the Bunyakiri area, remain in the hands of the army and its allies.
In a communiqué on 11 November signed by FARDC spokesman General Sylvain Ekenge, the general staff said loyalist forces had “halted the progress of the Rwandan army” at Bunyakiri and claimed advances in the Fizi and Uvira high plateaus and in Mwenga and Shabunda territories, 7sur7.cd reported. Kinshasa describes the war as Rwandan aggression. Rwanda has repeatedly rejected accusations that it directs the rebels; no new Rwandan statement on Bunyakiri was found in the sources reviewed.
Claims from both sides remain contested. Pro-government sources said on 8 November that FARDC-aligned forces had retaken Katasomwa in the Mubugu highlands, while other sources said the FRN had recaptured it, according to the Critical Threats Congo War Security Review of 11 November. Videos circulating online purport to show weapons seized by FRN fighters and captured government soldiers; these have not been independently verified.
Context: who is the FRN?
RFI describes the FRN as a political-military movement led by Joseph Kabila that grew out of the Rwanda-backed AFC/M23. Critical Threats notes that Kabila became its head on 12 October and that a number of Congolese officers and fighters have reportedly defected to it since then. For background on the coalition, see our explainer on Kabila, the FRN and M23.
The push on Bunyakiri comes days after a military court sitting in Walikale sentenced 66 FARDC soldiers to death for cowardice and mutiny, a sign of the discipline problems the army faces on this front. Washington has also targeted Rwanda’s defence establishment over M23 support; see US sanctions on Rwanda’s Ministry of Defence and Zigama.
What to watch
- Whether the announced FARDC counter-offensive retakes Bulambika and Bitale, or the FRN pushes on towards Hombo and Walikale.
- Displacement figures and humanitarian access along the RN3.
- Any independent confirmation of the claimed captures, defections and seized equipment.
Sources
- RFI, “RDC: offensive des combattants du FRN au Sud-Kivu, plusieurs localités tombent sous leur contrôle”, 10 November 2026.
- Actualite.cd, FARDC 34th Military Region spokesman Maj. Dieudonné Kasereka on the planned counter-offensive, 9 November 2026.
- 7sur7.cd, FARDC general staff communiqué signed by Gen. Sylvain Ekenge, 11 November 2026.
- Kivu Morning Post, “Kalehe : le FRN prend le contrôle de Bunyakiri et Bulambika”, 9 November 2026.
- Kigali Daily News (KDN), report on the capture of Bunyakiri, November 2026.
- Critical Threats, Congo War Security Review, 11 November 2026.