On 20 November 2012, M23 took control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu with a population of a million people, but was persuaded to withdraw from the city by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) because the Congolese government had finally agreed to negotiate with the rebel group.

[17] As of January 2025, the group occupies various major towns in eastern North Kivu including Bunagana, Kiwanja,[18] Kitchanga,[19] Rubaya,[20] Rutshuru,[18] and the city of Goma.

[24] Tensions escalated as ex-CNDP soldiers, accused of exploiting their military positions to monopolize mineral trafficking in eastern DRC, resisted governmental efforts to redeploy them outside their entrenched power bases.

[22] Human Rights Watch accused the group of committing widespread war crimes, including summary executions, rape, and forced recruitment, asserting that some Rwandan authorities could be complicit due to their continued support for M23 activities.

[22] In response to the mutiny, Congolese President Joseph Kabila called for Ntaganda's arrest on 11 April 2012,[24] but the rebellion culminated in the formal establishment of the March 23 Movement on 6 May, named after the date of the original peace agreement.

[27][28][29][30] The International Crisis Group has posited that, while the FDLR remains "too weak to imperil Rwanda's government", its continued existence functions as a rationalization for M23's activities and Rwandan involvement in eastern Congo.

[42] On 8 July 2012, Colonel Sultani Makenga announced that a government offensive to dislodge the group from their hideouts had failed, and that they had in turn captured several towns towards Goma, the provincial capital.

[44] On 20 November, M23 was observed systematically expropriating assets from displaced people in the Kibati groupement of Bukumu Chiefdom, including a documented case involving Joseph Nyandwi, a 54-year-old resident.

[45] However, critics argue that this act was intended to enable the potential fraudulent registration of Rwandan nationals, ostensibly to manipulate electoral outcomes, thus raising concerns about the subversion of democratic integrity.

Civilians bore the heaviest toll, with violence including sexual assaults, verbal and telephone threats against local leaders, and indiscriminate gunfire in residential areas and on roads.

Key defectors included Colonel Albert Kahasha, also called Foka Mike, deputy commander of the 808th FARDC Regiment, who joined the Mai-Mai PARECO group under La Fontaine in Bunyatenge, south of Lubero, in June 2012.

[45] Similarly, Lieutenant-Colonel Jaques Tahanga Nyolo, nicknamed Nyoro and a former RCD-K/ML leader, defected in July 2012 to regroup with M23-affiliated forces near Graben Park on the road to Kasindi, near Uganda.

On 7 July, the Administrator of Lubero Territory and the city chief of Kirumba were abducted by La Fontaine and Kahasha's group and released after enduring a week of harsh captivity.

[55] Jeune Afrique later reported that M23 rebels acquired as well as six artillery pieces (type 26 and BM-type rocket launchers) approximately ~20 shipping containers filled with arms and ammunitions of various caliber, all of which were abandoned by the FARDC during their retreat from Goma.

[61] Also 22 November, Kabila suspended General Gabriel Amisi's FARDC commission because of an inquiry into his alleged role in arms sales to various rebel groups, including the FDLR, in the eastern part of the country, so it implicated M23.

[22] On 23 November, M23 rebels retook Sake from the FARDC after an intense four-hour battle and reinforced their position in the town, as they reportedly moved toward Kirotshe to the south, Mushaki to the north-west, and Kingi to the north.

[65] On 24 November in South Kivu, Colonel Albert Kahasha, who had surrendered and joined government troops along with other leaders of Mai-Mai militia groups Raïa Mutomboki and Nyatura.

[67] The FARDC, had previously withdrawn after raping almost 126 women, some of them less than 10 years old, according to the United Nations and looting the money and possessions of the local population,[68] came from Minova in a counteroffensive launched against M23 positions in the Masisi, North Kivu region on 27 November.

[73] On 24 February 2013, leaders of eleven African nations signed an agreement designed to bring peace to the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, among them Rwanda and Uganda.

Seeking to expand their control into Masisi Territory, the M23 relied on allied militias, including Nyatura, Mai-Mai Cheka, and Raïa Mutomboki, to execute coordinated attacks and destabilize the region.

[88][89][90] The rebels also disrupted Ugandan road construction efforts in the region, prompting the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) to intervene briefly to secure equipment and personnel.

[91] Amid mounting tensions, regional heads of state, including Presidents Félix Tshisekedi, Paul Kagame, Yoweri Museveni, and Uhuru Kenyatta, met in Nairobi on 8 April 2022 to explore diplomatic solutions.

Following this, President Tshisekedi reassigned the M23 negotiations from Claude Ibalanky, who had initiated dialogue, to Serge Tshibangu, a close advisor advocating for a more hardline stance.

[95] The Congolese government, however, viewed the situation as the result of Rwandan aggression and maintained that there would be "no negotiation with M23" unless the group withdrew to its initial positions on the slopes of Mount Sabyinyo.

M23 forces then advanced along three fronts: southward toward Goma, halting approximately 20 kilometers from the city; northward toward the Ishasha border post; and westward through Virunga National Park, toward Tongo groupement of Bwito Chiefdom.

The summit mandated M23's immediate withdrawal to its initial positions, ostensibly on Mount Sabyinyo, and forewarned that the East African heads of state would sanction military intervention should the group fail to acquiesce.

[98] Days later, on 30 January, the Congolese army expelled Rwandan officers from EACRF, a move that drew criticism from the EAC secretary general for allegedly violating the Status of Forces Agreement.

[103] The United States condemned the presence of RDF troops in the DRC and, in August 2023, imposed sanctions on Rwandan General Andrew Nyamvumba for his alleged role in supporting M23.

As part of broader diplomatic efforts, discussions between the Congolese and Rwandan governments took place in Geneva on 15 May under the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

[104] According to an April 2024 report by the United Nations Group of Experts on the DRC, between 3,000 and 4,000 RDF soldiers were present on Congolese territory, possibly outnumbering the estimated 3,000 M23 combatants.