(Adnkronos) – The military spokesman for the M23 rebel movement, Willy Ngoma, has been killed. Several sources confirmed this to Africa Report, adding that the man “died in a drone attack in Masisi territory.” The exact circumstances of his death remain unclear. Several sources reported numerous people injured during the attack. The killing occurred while fighting had been raging for several days near the mining town of Rubaya, in North Kivu province, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Willy Ngoma was one of the rebellion’s most known faces. After the M23’s defeat at the end of its first offensive in 2012-2013, he was part of the contingent that withdrew to Uganda with the movement’s military leader, “General” Sultani Makenga. Ngoma had served as military spokesman since the movement’s resurgence in November 2021. His role led him to be subjected to European sanctions as early as December 2022. “Due to his leadership position within the M23/AFC (the armed wing of the March 23 Movement), Ngoma is involved in the planning, directing, or executing of acts that constitute serious human rights violations in the DRC,” the EU declared at the time. In February 2024, the United Nations also imposed sanctions on him.
During the fall of Goma in January 2025, Ngoma was one of the first rebel officers to appear at strategic points in the city, such as the airport. He was later seen escorting Romanian private military personnel allied with the Congolese army, who had been defeated during the battle and were about to be repatriated via Rwanda. Ngoma’s death represents a loss for the rebel movement and demonstrates that the intensity of fighting has not subsided, more than a week after the ceasefire proposed by Angola. Near Goma, 5 years ago, the ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Luca Attanasio, was assassinated, killed in an armed attack against a UN World Food Programme convoy. The attack also killed carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci and Congolese driver Mustapha Milambo.
