Bottom Line

Government-aligned forces claimed six additional localities in Kalehe, although control has repeatedly shifted across the Ziralo front. North Kivu now accounts for nearly 40 percent of newly confirmed Ebola cases nationwide, with limited treatment capacity placing patients in ordinary health facilities. The government has ordered wooden baleinières off the country’s waterways from November 15 despite their central role in transporting people, food and freight. Separately, Congolese and international partners began developing a 700-megawatt electricity link between Zambia and the DRC Copperbelt.

Security and Conflict

Government-aligned forces claim six additional localities in Kalehe

Government-aligned Wazalendo fighters claimed Kafufula, Katale, Katoke, Bikari, Chambombo and Bishaka after fighting with AFC/M23 in Kalehe territory. Katale and Kafufula were among the localities AFC/M23 captured in April, while Chambombo and other positions along the Ziralo front have changed hands repeatedly. AFC/M23 counterattacks were reported as fighting continued.

The FARDC separately presented 17 AFC/M23 combatants who surrendered in Fizi. A report placing the total at 24 combined the Fizi group with seven earlier surrenders in southern Lubero.

Rights group documents 87 civilian deaths across North Kivu

Badilika Droits humains documented at least 87 civilian deaths in more than 30 incidents across North Kivu between July and September. The cases span Beni, Lubero, Rutshuru and Masisi, as well as Goma and Butembo, and include killings, abductions, sexual violence, forced recruitment, explosive incidents and attacks on health facilities.

The organization attributed several dozen deaths to attacks in Beni and Lubero and documented other violence involving multiple armed groups in Rutshuru and Masisi. Its public summary does not provide separate death totals for AFC/M23, Wazalendo, FARDC, the ADF or unidentified perpetrators.

Kisangani prepares to receive medical students displaced from Goma and Bukavu

The University of Kisangani is preparing to integrate at least 157 medical students following the suspension of academic activities in AFC/M23-controlled Goma and Bukavu. The wider group seeking transfers may approach 200 students.

Health and Humanitarian

Ebola treatment capacity comes under pressure in North Kivu

North Kivu now accounts for nearly 40 percent of newly confirmed Ebola cases nationwide, up from 24 percent at the end of August. Limited bed capacity and delayed diagnoses meant 34 percent of confirmed patients were still being treated in ordinary health facilities as of September 28, increasing exposure among health workers and other patients. More than 60 percent of Ebola deaths continue to occur outside treatment centers.

The national epidemiological report recorded 8,665 confirmed cases and 4,178 deaths across 64 health zones in seven provinces as of October 6. Beni recorded nine confirmed cases in one day, while eight patients were discharged after recovering.

Consultations begin on mandatory health insurance

The Health Solidarity Fund opened consultations on the benefits and contribution levels for the DRC’s mandatory health-insurance system. Employers and workers would share contributions in the formal and public sectors, while informal workers would pay rates adjusted to their ability to contribute. The state would cover indigent and vulnerable residents.

Contribution rates and the financing of coverage for students are being negotiated. The reform is intended to reduce direct household payments, which accounted for approximately 38 percent of current health expenditure in 2023.

Komanda hospital opens four new pavilions

Komanda General Referral Hospital in Ituri opened four new pavilions, two boreholes and a solar-power system financed by the European Union through ULB-Coopération for more than €1.3 million. The facilities cover maternity, surgery, imaging, laboratory services, pharmacy, hospitalization and intensive care.

Bunia and Beni strengthen coordination for sexual-violence cases

Police, judicial officials and civil-society organizations have created a coordination mechanism in Bunia to improve referrals, investigations and judicial handling of sexual-violence cases. A complementary initiative in Beni is addressing obstacles survivors face when seeking medical care, protection and justice.

Transport

Government bans wooden baleinières from November 15

The government has ordered wooden baleinières off the country’s waterways from November 15 following a series of deadly river accidents. ONATRA was instructed to help provide replacement passenger and freight capacity.

Wooden baleinières are the principal transport connection for many communities beyond the road network, carrying passengers, food and commercial freight. Research on Congolese river transport has found that they are often the only vessels larger than canoes serving remote waterways. Without replacement capacity, the prohibition could interrupt essential transport or be enforced unevenly. Longstanding corruption concerns within river regulation also create room for inspectors to demand informal payments from operators.

At least 18 people die in Luilu road crash

At least 18 people were killed in a passenger-vehicle crash at Kamalundu, on the Luilu–Lubumbashi road in Lomami province. Initial accounts placed the provisional toll between 18 and 19.

Road deaths are substantially undercounted nationally. The DRC recorded 3,364 fatalities in 2021, while the World Health Organization estimated an actual toll of 15,615—approximately 4.6 times the official figure.

Energy and Infrastructure

Partners begin developing a 700-megawatt Zambia–DRC power link

The DRC Strategic Investment Fund, EnPower, Trafigura and Gridworks signed a memorandum to develop a 700-megawatt electricity interconnector between Kalumbila in Zambia and Kolwezi. The proposed 190-kilometer, 330-kilovolt line would supply mining and industrial operations in the DRC Copperbelt, where inadequate electricity supply is constraining production.

Sabotage and cable theft disrupt the Inga–Kinshasa power link

SNEL attributed major Kinshasa electricity disruptions to sabotage and cable theft along the Inga–Kimwenza transmission line. Repair teams were deployed to restore the affected infrastructure.

World Bank-backed Tshikapa water works begin

Kasaï authorities launched a $41 million water-supply project for Tshikapa, financed through the World Bank’s International Development Association. The 21-month program includes two pumping stations, three reservoirs, approximately 259 kilometers of pipes, 488 public standpipes and 12,639 household connections.

Economy and Mining

Program says 13,587 children have been removed from cobalt mines

The state-run PABEA-COBALT program said 13,587 children identified in Haut-Katanga and Lualaba had been removed from artisanal cobalt mining and kept in school since 2022. The government presented the results in Geneva as it sought the removal of Congolese cobalt from the United States’ list of goods associated with forced or child labor.

Fuel queues persist in Kinshasa

Fuel queues continued at some Kinshasa stations, while the Hydrocarbons Ministry said stocks were sufficient and attributed the disruption to delivery delays, including tanker trucks slowed by urban traffic. Nighttime deliveries have been increased.

Kinshasa relies primarily on imported refined fuel received at SEP Congo’s Ango-Ango terminal in Matadi. The fuel is transported through the Matadi–Kinshasa pipeline to depots at Kinshasa-Ville, Masina and N’djili, concentrating the capital’s supply through a limited logistics chain.

Environment

Semuliki communities face water restrictions following anthrax deaths

Authorities temporarily prohibited use of the Semuliki River around Kasindi-Lubirigha after anthrax was linked to hippopotamus deaths in the river. Families in Kambo, which relied heavily on the Semuliki, are traveling six to seven kilometers to obtain safer water.

Recurrent ground subsidence threatens more than 700 Kabare households

Repeated ground subsidence and landslides around Chirambi, in Kabare territory, are threatening more than 700 households. Fissures have continued to spread through an unstable area where homes have been damaged or lost during recurring collapses since at least 2024. No geotechnical assessment cited in the reporting has established the underlying cause.

Governance and Public Services

Government identifies 43,000 education workers eligible for retirement

The government identified approximately 43,000 education workers for phased retirement during 2026 and 2027 under an agreement between the Education Ministry and the public-sector social-security fund. An initial group of 6,500 has been formally identified.

Satellite methods proposed for census coverage in Goma and Bukavu

Planning Minister Guylain Nyembo said the second national population census could use satellite-supported methods in Goma and Bukavu if insecurity prevents household enumeration in the AFC/M23-controlled cities.

Satellite imagery can map buildings and settlement patterns, but population estimates require ground surveys or administrative data to determine how many people occupy them. Conflict-driven displacement further complicates the exercise because empty, temporary and overcrowded residences may not correspond to the cities’ usual populations. Any remotely generated figures would require clear methodology and uncertainty estimates.