Going inside Congo’s vicious, unsolved war: patriots, rebels, and sexual assault

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 10:03:05 +0000

The east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is stricken by war. M23 rebels, scores of armed groups, accusations of atrocities, and foreign meddling. It’s Africa's incredibly complicated and barely spoken of conflict. The human cost has been horrifying. Victims, including displaced, number in the millions.

Correspondent, Prue Lewarne, travelled in both rebel-held and government-controlled territory to witness Congo's war, what's being fought over and its devastating human toll.

A warning that this film contains confronting content.

00:00 The Wazalendo: heavily armed, self-proclaimed patriots in eastern DRC - some call for a bigger war
06:23 Inside Goma, captured by M23 in January - rebel leaders, Bertrand Bisimwa and Corneille Nangaa, reveal their ambitions
12:08 Sexual assault is at epidemic levels - a survivor in Goma recounts her harrowing ordeal

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