Amadou Soumah Sekou, surgeon at Ndosho hospital, supported by the International Red Cross (ICRC), examines a woman injured during the conflict, May 14, 2026 in Goma, DRC (AFP / Jospin Mwisha)
The shattering sound of an “explosion”, panic and the injured: in the east of the DRC, in the grip of a conflict which is bogged down despite peace talks, civilians are now struck from the sky and sometimes far from the front lines, by drones.
The east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been plagued by violence for more than 30 years. The fighting intensified at the beginning of 2025 with the capture, by the anti-government armed group M23 supported by Rwanda and its army, of the large cities of Goma and Bukavu, facing overwhelmed Congolese armed forces.
Last week, a drone attack injured at least 25 civilians in Mushaki, an agricultural town about forty kilometers from Goma and located in the M23 zone, according to humanitarian sources. The victims were transported to the Ndosho hospital in Goma, supported by the International Red Cross (ICRC). Among them, a two-year-old girl.
According to testimonies from the injured collected by AFP, the attack targeted a market. The stories are similar: residents far from the front line going about their daily lives, the blast of “an explosion” and astonishment.
injured during the bombing of the Mushaki market, is treated at the Goma hospital, supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on May 14, 2026 in the DRC (AFP / Jospin Mwisha)
“I was coming back from my field to go to the market when I heard an explosion,” says Jean-Claude Tusenge, father of six children, in a weak voice.
Without really understanding what was happening, he remembers “passing out.” He was actually hit in the stomach.
Germaine, 21, injured in the thigh, also remembers an “explosion” and that “everyone fled”. She says today she is afraid of the idea of returning to the market, of being the victim again of a drone that could appear out of nowhere.
– “Murderous attacks –
Germaine, injured during the bombing of the Mushaki market, is treated at the Goma hospital, supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on May 14, 2026 in the DRC (AFP / Jospin Mwisha)
In December, the DRC and Rwanda ratified under the aegis of Washington a fragile peace agreement which, however, did not put an end to the fighting. And in recent months, drones have taken an increasing role in the conflict.
The Congolese army, long outmatched in land operations, has acquired Turkish and Chinese attack drones to bomb M23 positions in the east.
The M23 also uses drones, and has notably targeted Kisangani airport (east), from where military aircraft of the Kinshasa forces take off.
Surgeon Amadou Soumah Sékou examines the x-ray of a patient at the Goma hospital, supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on May 14, 2026 in the DRC (AFP / Jospin Mwisha)
Among those injured in the Mushaki attack, some “had abdominal wounds, others chest wounds, injuries to the neck, head and limbs”, describes Doctor Amadou Soumah Sékou, surgeon at Ndosho hospital interviewed by AFP.
“I heard the explosion of a bomb. When I turned around, I saw my daughter injured,” says Esperance Amani, in her thirties. His two-year-old daughter was hit in the strike. Doctors have not yet succeeded in removing the shards lodged in the child’s body.
The United Nations Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) condemned last Saturday a “wave of murderous attacks targeting civilians” in the eastern provinces of the country, where a myriad of armed groups are active, notably mentioning a drone strike on Mushaki.
Espérance holds in her arms her little girl injured during the bombing of the Mushaki market, at the Goma hospital, supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on May 14, 2026 in the DRC (AFP / Jospin Mwisha)
The United States also condemned the attack without naming the perpetrators.
The M23 regularly accuses Kinshasa of carrying out deadly strikes against civilians, but the AFP was not able to confirm these allegations with independent sources.
The armed group, described as the leading perpetrator of human rights violations in the east by UN experts, has silenced dissenting voices in areas under its control.
In February, the spokesperson and figure of the armed group, Willy Ngoma, was killed in a drone attack near the Rubaya mine, controlled by the M23.
At the beginning of March, a French humanitarian worker from Unicef was also killed by an unclaimed drone strike in the city of Goma.
