Congolese firefighters extinguish a fire caused by a drone strike that hit a residential neighborhood in Goma, occupied by M23 rebels, in North Kivu, DRC, on March 11, 2026. Image @ Reuters
A French aid worker has reportedly been killed in Goma, a rebel-controlled city in Eastern Congo, after an area in the city was hit by drone strikes that have resulted in at least three deaths, according to the U.N.
In a post on X, French President Emmanuel Macron and Hadja Lahbibi, European Commissioner for equality, preparedness, and crisis management, denounced the attack, stressing that international humanitarian laws must be observed and aid workers must not be attacked.
A rebel group that has seized the city since last year, the AFC/M23, said the attack resulted in three deaths, including a foreign humanitarian worker, and accused the Congolese army of being responsible for the attack in a series of posts on X. An allegation that the Congolese army or government has not yet responded to.
According to a senior AFC/M23 official, a facility rented by UNICEF employees, which is close to a property previously occupied by the former Congolese President, Joseph Kabila, in a densely populated area in the lake city, was hit by one of the drones. A second drone had targeted the residence of the political coordinator of AFC/M23, Corneille Nangaa, but fell into Lake Kivu, he added.
The strikes come after weeks of escalating drone attacks between the AFC/M23 and the Congolese army in a political conflict. On February 24 2026, Willy Ngoma, military spokesperson for AFC/M23 was killed in a drone attack by the Congolese army near Rubaya, a mining town 60 km away from Goma.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah