Goma
Goma: North Kivu capital, fell to M23 rebels (Jan 2025), $800M coltan revenue extracted, 700,000+ displaced, Lake Kivu volcanic city.
Goma is the provincial capital of North Kivu—a city that fell to M23 rebels on 27 January 2025, marking the most dramatic territorial loss in the DRC's ongoing eastern conflict. The armed group, which the UN documented receiving 'critical' Rwandan military assistance (4,000+ personnel), had already seized the strategic mining town of Rubaya in May 2024, capturing 15% of global coltan production. Between April and December 2024, M23 generated $800 million in coltan revenue, exported illegally through Rwanda where minerals are 'laundered' by mixing with Rwandan production. The humanitarian cost is staggering: 700,000 displaced since early 2025, contributing to DRC's 7.3 million internally displaced population—one of the world's largest. WHO recovered 900 bodies from Goma's streets after the fall, with approximately 3,000 injured. The August 2024 Angola-mediated ceasefire collapsed within months, and December peace talks failed when DRC refused Rwanda's demand for direct M23 negotiations. Goma sits on Lake Kivu's volcanic shore, shadowed by Mount Nyiragongo—adding geological risk to political chaos.