DRC slams M23 rebel group's opposition to airport reopening

The Democratic Republic of Congo has criticised M23 rebel group's "cynical" opposition to reopening Goma airport to help funnel much-needed aid to the crisis-ridden east.

The M23, which seized the city of Goma in a lightning offensive in January 2025, had previously judged calls to reopen the airport "inopportune."

The airport has long been considered vital to the swift delivery of humanitarian aid, medicine and food to the mineral-rich east.

The region has been ravaged by more than three decades of fighting.

M23's 'unruliness'

"M23 cannot oppose the need to provide humanitarian aid to our people," Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said.

Muyaya told Congolese national television the airport would be reopened "with the authorisation of the Congolese authorities" in coordination with the United Nations and humanitarian organisations.

Criticising what he saw as the M23's "unruliness", Muyaya said the rebel group had "no right to decide what traffic should pass through" Goma airport despite the rebel group's "illegal occupation."

US-backed efforts to end the long-running eastern DRC conflict, which in June led to both sides signing a commitment to a permanent ceasefire, have failed to halt the violence on the ground.