The DR Congo army's drone strike on Goma on Wednesday morning targeted one of the safest neighbourhoods in the city that is controlled by the AFC/M23 rebels.

The attack targeted the neighborhood of United Nations and European Union staff. It killed three people, including a French citizen employed by the UN children&039;s agency UNICEF, according to AFC/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka.

The French citizen was identified as Karine Buisset, said Kanyuka, who accused President Felix Tshisekedi's government of "targeting the United Nations and the European Union."

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Goma, the largest city in eastern DR Congo and capital of North Kivu province, had not seen any major attack since the rebels took its control in early 2025.

This comes amid AFC/M23 warning about Kinshasa's multiple violation of a ceasefire agreed in Doha, Qatar in October 2025. It also follows the rebel group's release of over 7,000 government soldiers as a confidence building measure since May 2025.

"M23 has demonstrated to the international community a commitment that goes beyond what many believed possible. The movement has respected the ceasefire and released around 7,000 prisoners of war as a gesture of goodwill," Willy Manzi, a rebel-appointed vice governor of North Kivu, said in a post on Wednesday.

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Manzi added, "President Félix Tshisekedi has chosen a path that continues to spill the blood of the Congolese population and has now even targeted humanitarian workers. One cannot help but wonder how long this situation can continue."

ALSO READ: AFC/M23 releases 5,000 FARDC soldiers captured on the battlefield

The Congolese government coalition includes thousands of Burundian troops, foreign mercenaries, the genocidal FDLR militia as well as local armed groups called Wazalendo.

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For months, drone and artillery attacks by Kinshasa have targeted civilians, including the Banyamulenge community in Minembwe, South Kivu.

"These drones that spread death among the innocent are supplied to the Kinshasa regime by China, that same permanent member of the Security Council that champions the condemnation of violence in the DRC, demanding respect for the ceasefire. Let us call for an end to this hypocrisy," said AFC/M23 deputy coordinator Bertrand Bisimwa.

The latest attack comes as the UN mission in DR Congo has taken over the role of ceasefire monitoring between the warring parties.