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2025 Walikale Offensive
The 2025 Walikale offensive was a military operation conducted by March 23 Movement (M23), a Rwandan-backed rebel group in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, centering on the North Kivu settlement of Walikale. M23 rebels advanced further westwards from their earlier Goma and Bukavu offensives. On 19 March 2025, the rebel forces captured Walikale marking their furthest western advance in their 2025 campaign. This mineral-rich town, situated approximately 130 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital Goma, has strategic and economic significance due to its proximity to valuable tin mining operations. Background Walikale is a town situated in the western part of North Kivu Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Known for its strategic location and natural resources, Walikale has been a focal point in the region's history of armed conflicts. The area has witnessed a series of military confrontations, involving various militias, such as the Natio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M23 Campaign (2022–present)
The M23 campaign is an ongoing series of Offensive (military), military offensives launched by the March 23 Movement (M23), a Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, since March 2022. In November 2021, M23 first launched attacks against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congolese military (FARDC) and MONUSCO, seizing military positions in Ndiza, Cyanzu, and Runyoni in North Kivu, North Kivu Province. This coincided with the deployment of Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) to the region to combat the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel group operating in the Congo's North Kivu and Ituri Province, Ituri provinces. The conflict escalated between March and June 2022, as M23 overran key areas in Rutshuru Territory, including the strategic border town of Bunagana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bunagana, forcing Congolese soldiers to flee into Uganda. Uganda alleged that Rwanda orchestrated the offensi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2025 Bukavu Offensive
The 2025 Bukavu offensive was a military operation conducted by M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), centered around their advance toward Bukavu, the provincial capital of South Kivu. This military campaign began in February 2025, following the group's successful capture of Goma in the neighboring North Kivu province, and concluded with the M23 rebels’ successful capture of Bukavu just over a week later. Background The M23's expansion into South Kivu occurred in the aftermath of their capture of Goma, North Kivu's capital, in January 2025. The deputy head of MONUSCO, Vivian van de Perre, said on January 28 that the Angolan-mediated peace process needed to be restarted to "avert the looming threat of a third Congo war." The African Union Peace and Security Council held an emergency meeting on January 28, where it focused on the need to obtain a ceasefire. The M23 announced a humanitarian ceasefire on February 3, 2025, citing concerns for aid de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monazite
Monazite is a primarily reddish-brown phosphate mineral that contains rare-earth elements. Due to variability in composition, monazite is considered a group of minerals. The most common species of the group is monazite-(Ce), that is, the cerium-dominant member of the group. It occurs usually in small isolated crystals. It has a hardness of 5.0 to 5.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness and is relatively dense, about 4.6 to 5.7 g/cm3. There are five different most common species of monazite, depending on the relative amounts of the rare earth elements in the mineral: * monazite-(Ce), (the most common member), * monazite-(La), , * monazite-(Nd), , * monazite-(Sm), , * monazite-(Pr), . The elements in parentheses are listed in the order of their relative proportion within the mineral: lanthanum is the most common rare-earth element in monazite-(La), and so forth. Silica () is present in trace amounts, as well as small amounts of uranium and thorium. Due to the alpha decay o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elemental
An elemental is a mythic supernatural being that is described in occult and alchemy, alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsus and his subsequent followers, there are four categories of elementals, which are gnomes, undine (alchemy), undines, sylphs, and salamanders in folklore and legend, salamanders. These correspond to the four Empedoclean elements of antiquity: earth (classical element), earth, water (classical element), water, air (classical element), air, and fire (classical element), fire, respectively. Terms employed for beings associated with alchemical elements vary by source and gloss. History The Paracelsian concept of elementals draws from several much older traditions in mythology and religion. Common threads can be found in folklore, animism, and anthropomorphism. Examples of creatures such as the Pygmy (Greek mythology), Pygmy were taken from Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coltan
Coltan (short for columbite–tantalites and known industrially as tantalite) is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite (after niobium's original American name ''columbium''), and the tantalum-dominant mineral is tantalite. Tantalum from coltan is used to manufacture tantalum capacitors which are used for mobile phones, personal computers, automotive electronics, and cameras. Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo#Mining resumes (2001–present), Coltan mining is widespread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Production and supply Approximately 71% of the global tantalum supply in 2008 was newly mined, 20% was from recycling, and the remainder was from tin slag and inventory. Tantalum minerals are mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colombia, Rwanda, Australia, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Kenya. Tantalum is also produced in Thailand and Malaysi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolframite
Wolframite is an iron, manganese, and tungstate mineral with a chemical formula of that is the intermediate mineral between ferberite ( rich) and hübnerite ( rich). Along with scheelite, the wolframite series are the most important tungsten ore minerals. Wolframite is found in quartz veins and pegmatites associated with granitic intrusives. Associated minerals include cassiterite, scheelite, bismuth, quartz, pyrite, galena, sphalerite, and arsenopyrite. This mineral was historically found in Europe in Bohemia, Saxony, and in the UK in Devon and Cornwall. China reportedly has the world's largest supply of tungsten ore with about 60%. Other producers are Spain, Canada, Portugal, Russia, Australia, Thailand, South Korea, Rwanda, Bolivia, the United States, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Properties The wolframite series is mainly formed through magmatic-hydrothermal processes associated with felsic magmas, namely skarns, or through metamorphic processes. In the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 11 element, and one of the noble metals. It is one of the least reactivity (chemistry), reactive chemical elements, being the second-lowest in the reactivity series. It is solid under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions. Gold often occurs in free elemental (native state (metallurgy), native state), as gold nugget, nuggets or grains, in rock (geology), rocks, vein (geology), veins, and alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver (as in electrum), naturally alloyed with other metals like copper and palladium, and mineral inclusions such as within pyrite. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium (gold tellurides). Gold is resistant to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio Okapi
Radio Okapi is a radio network that operates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On an annual budget of USD$4.5 million, a staff of 200 provide news and information to the entire urban population of the DRC. Radio Okapi provides programming in French and in the four national languages of Congo: Lingala, Kituba, Swahili and Tshiluba, History Radio Okapi was created by the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) and the Swiss NGO Fondation Hirondelle. The agreement between MONUC and the Congolese government foresaw the creation of a radio network to inform the Congolese population of the MONUC's efforts. MONUC and the Fondation Hirondelle submitted a plan in 2001 to the United Nations, and the radio network went live on 25 February 2002. The station takes its name from the endangered Okapi, the elusive mammal native to the rainforest of northern Congo. In 2011 ''The Economist'' said that Radio Okapi was "one of Africa’s most admirably indepen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alliance Of Patriots For A Free And Sovereign Congo
The Alliance of Patriots for a Free and Sovereign Congo (; APCLS) is an armed militia group which operates in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. APCLS is traditionally active in Masisi Territory, North Kivu and is considered one of the largest ''mai-mai'' (local or ethnic militia) groups operating in the province. Formed in 2006, the APCLS draws most of its support from the Hunde ethnic group. Its ideology is founded on opposition to the Tutsi ethnic groups who are believed to threaten the integrity of the Congolese state and to be supported, in particular, by Rwanda. The APCLS is a belligerent in the ongoing Kivu conflict and is led by Janvier Buingo Karairi, known as General Janvier. History The APCLS was formed as part of the Resisting Congolese Patriots (''Patriotes Résistants Congolais'', or PARECO) group in 2006 and was originally known as PARECO-Hunde. The group split from PARECO in 2008 after the Goma Accords. The militia counts around 1,500 men ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Democratic Forces For The Liberation Of Rwanda
The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (, FDLR; , IDKR) is an armed rebel group active in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. As an ethnic Hutu group opposed to the ethnic Tutsi influence, the FDLR is one of the last factions of Rwandan rebels active in the Congo. It was founded through an amalgamation of other groups of Rwandan refugees in September 2000, including the former Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALiR), under the leadership of Paul Rwarakabije. It was active during the latter phases of the Second Congo War and the subsequent insurgencies in Kivu. As of December 2009, Major General Sylvestre Mudacumura was the FDLR's overall military commander. He was the former deputy commander of the FAR Presidential Guard in Rwanda in 1994.Hans Romkena, De VennhooOpportunities and Constraints for the Disarmament and Repatriation of Foreign Armed Groups in the DRC Multi Country Demobilization and Recovery Program, April 2007, report on FDLR described as ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nyatura
The Nyatura (Kinyarwanda for “those who hit hard”), also known as Mai-Mai Nyatura, and officially called the Collective of Movements for Change, are a group of Congolese Hutu militias that operate in the Kivu region of the Congo. History The Nyatura were first formed in 2010. Rather than being organized as a single group, they are a group of armed factions that often cooperate with other anti- Rwandan and anti- M23 elements in the region throughout the Kivu conflict The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including .... By late 2017, around 15 separate Nyatura factions were reported to be active, some part of coalitions with other armed groups, and some independent. Like many militias in the Kivu region, they have been employed by the Congolese military to fight against other an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raia Mutomboki
Raïa Mutomboki or Raiya Mutomboki (Swahili; ) are a Mai-Mai militia operating in the South Kivu region in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The group formed in 2005 to fight against Rwandan Hutu groups such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) as part of the Kivu conflict. History The group was founded by Pastor Jean Musumbu, who had defected from the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) in response to massacres by the FDLR. Raïa Mutomboki is said to use a 'snowballing' recruitment strategy whereby a village is defended or liberated from FDLR or related forces and the males from that village are initiated into the group. The group emerged and reemerged as a reaction to the Congolese Army's relative absence in North and South Kivu. In 2011, the group was reinvigorated when infighting in the Congolese army caused them to withdraw from the fight in eastern provinces. The group's existence is largely a result of the failure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
