50+ civilians killed in Rutshuru clashes in January alone

Fighting across parts of DRC North Kivu is reinforcing a wider regional pattern: violence that jumps between territories can rapidly overwhelm civilian protection, humanitarian access and health services. In an update citing OCHA’s January reporting, more than fifty civilians were killed during clashes in multiple villages of Rutshuru in mid-January, with additional deadly incidents and fresh displacement reported in Masisi and Walikale.

OCHA said the 12–16 January fighting spread across more than a dozen villages in Bwito chiefdom (including Bukombo, Kihondo, Mutanda, Bambo and Tongo groupings), with “about fifty” civilians killed and several hundred people displaced toward locations such as Bukombo-centre, Ihula, Nyanzale, Kikuku-centre and Katsiru, while others moved toward Mweso and Kitchanga in Masisi territory.

In Masisi, OCHA also noted renewed clashes in the Nyamaboko 1 and 2 areas, and recalled a 2 January airstrike that reportedly killed 11 people and injured around 40 in Masisi-Centre. The report said the strike destroyed the local office of an international NGO, and placed these incidents within a broader environment of persistent insecurity and large-scale displacement in the Masisi area.

Further west in Walikale, OCHA described continued insecurity affecting both protection and humanitarian access. It cited 19–30 January explosions “attributed to drones” hitting hills overlooking Kasopo and Buleusa (Ikobo) and other localities (Kisimba), followed by new mass displacement, alongside persistent tensions around the Pinga area.

The practical impact, OCHA warned, is not only movement and casualties but a gradual erosion of basic services: local humanitarian partners reported looting and damage to several health facilities, while the Pinga General Referral Hospital was said to be facing medication shortages and significant gaps in equipment and staffing.

Alongside conflict-driven shocks, OCHA also referenced a separate disaster: a landslide in Burutsi that killed at least 30 people and cut road traffic on the Kashebere–Mungazi–Kibua axis described as the only route linking the area to Walikale centre adding another constraint to already fragile access.