[11][12] Notable rivers such as Osso (Luxoo), Mweso, Muhongozi, Lwama, Rusoma, Rwambi, Twaliba, Bushenge, Bushaala, Luwe, Lweti, Lwitwi, Katalandwa, Kihimba, and Katanda traverse the region.

Hutu Banyarwanda and newly arrived Tutsi refugees clashed with indigenous populations and police forces, leading to widespread chaos, including looting, arson, and massacres.

The economic prospects of cattle farming attracted government officials, merchants, and affluent individuals to North Kivu, leading to a scramble for land that intensified the struggles faced by the crop-farming populations of Masisi.

[32][30][33] The declaration of democratization by Mobutu in April 1990, and the subsequent initiation of the Sovereign National Conference (CNS) in August 1991, reignited ethnic conflicts as Banyarwanda and indigenous factions clashed over representation.

[30] The deferment of municipal elections in North and South Kivu, coupled with the "identification of nationals" operation in June 1991, designed to identify voters, encountered violent resistance from armed Hutu contingents who attacked administrative establishments in Masisi, obliterated population registers, and terrorized the teams responsible for the process.

[30] On March 20, 1993, violence peaked when groups of young Hunde, Nyanga, and Tembo, likely organized by local politicians, perpetrated the first massacres of Hutu peasants at the Ntoto market in eastern Walikale Territory.

[30] Between November 1993 and August 1994, a brief respite in violence was achieved through military intervention by the Special Presidential Division (DSP) and extensive communication efforts involving official actors, civil society, and NGOs.

[6][30] Confronted with escalating security threats and the intensifying "manhunt" for Tutsis, an armed coalition comprising Banyamulenge insurgents and other factions opposed to the Mobutu regime coalesced into the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL) in 1996.

[43] Despite the failure of the FDLR's "Oracle of the Lord" operation against Rwanda in mid-2001 and the commencement of the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers from the province in September 2002, the RCD-Goma's strategy did not yield the anticipated results.

[47] On November 26, the 11th Integrated Brigade of FARDC launched an offensive as part of a so-called cleansing operation (opération de nettoyage) between Sake and Kitchanga against Nkunda's loyalists.

[48] The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of North Kivu reported that at least 6,000 displaced families from Nyanzale, Kashuga, Darubandi, Tongo, and Mweshe sought refuge in Kitchanga.

[54] Around 10,000 displaced people, primarily Hutus, Hunde, and Tutsis, from Mweso, Kalembe, Nyanzale, and neighboring regions, congregated for nearly a month in a primary school in Kitchanga repurposed as a shelter.

[57] By 2012, the Bashali Chiefdom had become a bastion for the Alliance des Patriotes pour un Congo Libre et Souverain (APCLS), a group that emerged in the region with the intention of protecting indigenous populations from Tutsi-led rebel factions.

[60] Ntaganda's forces prevented inhabitants of Karuba from leaving their homes, and other localities, including Muheto, Mushaki, Buku, Kitchanga, Bwiza, Nyamitaba, Kirolirwe, Kabati, Mukambi, Murambi, Misumbala, Luhunga, and Mweso, were also under their control.

[60] Inhabitants vacated the premises, seeking refuge in Mubambiro, 2 km from Saké, and others settled in Goma or crossed the Congolese border to find asylum in Gisenyi, Rwanda.

[60] However, the governor of North Kivu, Julien Paluku Kahongya, refuted claims that certain localities had fallen to insurgents, asserting they remained under government control despite loyalty to Bosco Ntaganda.

[61] On April 30, FARDC initiated a counter-offensive against CNDP, reclaiming several localities in Masisi and Rutshuru territories, including Bwiza near Kitchanga, approximately 100 km west of Goma, and villages such as Kautu, Kabaya, and Karuba near Mushaki.

[63] In May 2012, the M23 rebel military group seized significant portions of North Kivu, with Rwanda allegedly providing arms, ammunition, medical support, recruitment, and free passage for troops and politicians.

[64] By January 2013, approximately 54,400 IDPs were residing in the Mweso health zone of the Bashali-Mokoto groupement, deprived of humanitarian assistance for nearly five months and subjected to various forms of harassment by M23 and other local militias.

[70] However, locals and the Forces pour la Défense des Intérêts du Peuple Congolais (FDIPC) attributed these attacks to the M23 rebels, claiming it was retribution against the indigenous populations in anticipation of the MONUSCO intervention brigade's arrival.

[73] On December 9, the MONUSCO Intervention Brigade launched military operations against the FDLR rebels in the Kitshanga-Kalembe and Pinga areas as part of a comprehensive plan against local and foreign armed groups in the region.

[84] Populations from the Bashali-Mokoto groupement in several localities, including Kahira, Kirumbu, Mpati, Muhanga, and Busumba, fled to Mweso and Muhongozi, fearing for their safety after FARDC's withdrawal from Kitchanga.

[85] The local chiefs of Bashali-Mokoto petitioned military officials for the redeployment of troops to facilitate the return of populations long affected by insecurity imposed by the Mai-Mai Nyatura and their FDLR allies.

[93] On February 21, fighting on Katoko hill between NDC-Rénové and a coalition of Mai-Mai Nyatura and APCLS fighters left at least eleven dead and eight seriously injured, with two children missing and several captured.

[109] Between November 29 and December 1, 2022, M23 perpetrated a massacre, resulting in 131 deaths in Bwito Chiefdom across Bambo, Tongo, and Bishusha groupements according to UNJHRO and MONUSCO preliminary investigations.

[112][113] The attack caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands, forcing them to flee to nearby locations such as Kanyabayonga, Kibirizi, Kashala, Kirima, Nyanzale, Kashalira, Bambu, and Kitchanga.

[140] On May 9, the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported having provided care to 674 survivors of sexual violence during the last two weeks of April in IDP camps around Goma.

[159] Over six thousand households fled to Sake, dispersing across four impromptu sites: Kizimba, Zainab, Kyabiringa, and Mahyutsa, while others sought refuge in the EP Kamuronza and Institut Kiluku collective centers.

[167] On February 29, at approximately 11 a.m. local time, two projectiles originating from the Kihuli hill summit, controlled by M23 rebels, struck the roundabout on the Kitchanga axis in Sake, damaging SAMIDRC armored vehicles and injuring two people (a civilian and a soldier from the Tanzanian contingent).

The exploitation of these minerals has not benefited the local population; instead, it has resulted in significant social and environmental issues, turning potential developmental assets into sources of conflict and misery.