Fighting intensifies around key coltan mine in North Kivu.

Government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo launched fresh attacks against the March 23 Movement in the country’s east, using drones to strike a strategic mining site held by the Rwanda backed rebels, security sources said Wednesday.

Clashes were concentrated around the mining town of Rubaya, where M23 positions were targeted by a drone strike a day earlier, according to local and security sources.

The Rubaya mine accounts for an estimated 15 to 30 percent of global coltan production, a mineral essential for manufacturing electronic devices such as laptops and mobile phones.

Since reemerging in 2021, the M23 has seized large areas of the mineral rich east. The group captured the Rubaya mine in North Kivu province in April 2024, with support from Rwanda.

The renewed offensive has further inflamed a conflict that has gripped eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo for more than three decades, with numerous armed groups and foreign actors competing for control of valuable mineral resources.

In December, the M23 advanced on the strategic city of Uvira in South Kivu province near the border with Burundi, drawing condemnation from the United States, which has helped broker a fragile peace agreement between Kinshasa and Kigali.

CBI News reports that Angola, another mediator, had proposed a ceasefire to take effect on February 18, though fighting has continued.

On Wednesday, local militias allied with Congolese forces attacked several positions along the front line in North Kivu, particularly in Masisi territory where Rubaya is located, local and security sources said.

The militias said they had taken the village of Kazinga, about 20 kilometres northwest of Rubaya.

According to United Nations experts, the M23 has established a parallel administration to oversee operations at the Rubaya mine since seizing control.