UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix attends a Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, Dec. 12, 2025. Lacroix on Friday warned that escalation of fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) risks the fragmentation of the country with regional consequences. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Friday warned that escalation of fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) risks the fragmentation of the country with regional consequences.

The new offensive launched in recent days by the AFC/M23 (Congo River Alliance/March 23 Movement) in South Kivu has revived the specter of a regional flare-up with incalculable consequences, Lacroix told the Security Council in a briefing.

He said that "recent developments pose a serious risk of the gradual fragmentation of the DRC, particularly its eastern part."

The territorial expansion of the AFC/M23, the establishment of parallel administrations, and the weakening of state presence in certain areas fuel a dynamic that directly threatens DRC's unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, he warned.

The conflict is becoming increasingly regionalized, Lacroix said, adding that the direct or indirect involvement of armed forces and groups from neighboring countries, as well as the cross-border movement of displaced populations and combatants, significantly increases the risk of a regional conflagration.

He noted that the prompt implementation of Security Council Resolution 2773, which calls for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, remains essential if diplomatic progress is finally to translate into tangible improvements in the situation on the ground.

While recent diplomatic progress has generated genuine hope, persistent ceasefire violations and the resumption of hostilities pose a real risk of the collapse of ongoing diplomatic efforts, Lacroix said.

He said that the humanitarian situation is alarming, adding that continued hostilities, repeated waves of displacement, the ongoing closure of Goma and Kavumu airports, and shrinking humanitarian access have compounded an already severe crisis.

Humanitarian agencies are facing crippling funding shortfalls, Lacroix noted, saying that the humanitarian response plan for the DRC for 2025 is currently only 22 percent funded. ■