2025 Goma Offensive
Why it Matters?
The city of Goma was captured by the M23 rebel group in early 2025, and the lake and surrounding areas are a major theatre of operations for the March 23 Movement also known as M23.
Recently, Trump’s Washington peace deal was signed between Rwanda and DRC but excluded the rebels (like M23 and the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC)) actually fighting on the ground. In Goma, M23 still controls the city amid widespread violence, human rights abuses, and a worsening humanitarian crisis.
The Minerals Issue:
The DRC is one of the richest countries in the world in minerals, especially:
Cobalt (used in electric car batteries and phones).
Coltan/tantalum (critical for electronics).
Trump suggested the peace deal could give the US “a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo.”
Rebels, however, control many of the key mining areas, including Rubaya (the “coltan capital”).
While M23 leaders deny their war is about minerals, critics and the UN argue the conflict is deeply tied to competition over resource wealth, in addition to governance and ethnic tensions.
Places in News:
City of Goma and Lake Kivu
Goma is a major city and the capital of the North Kivu Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
It is strategically located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu and directly on the border with Rwanda.
Just north of Goma is Mount Nyiragongo, an active volcano with one of the world’s largest lava lakes. Its eruptions (notably in 2002 and 2021) have devastated parts of the city.
Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes.
Sits in the East African Rift Valley, the lake is also known as “Limnically active lake”, due to presence of vast amount of dissolved methane and CO2.