France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has opened a war crimes investigation following the death of Karine Buisset, a 54-year-old French UNICEF humanitarian worker killed in a drone strike on a residential neighborhood of Goma in the early hours of Wednesday, March 11. The announcement, which came two days after the attack, has intensified international pressure over a strike that has so far gone unclaimed and unattributed.
Buisset, originally from Belz in the Morbihan region of Brittany, was a programme specialist for UNICEF in the DRC working on protection against sexual exploitation and abuse. She was staying in a house in Goma’s Himbi neighborhood, a lakeside residential quarter where many expatriates, aid organizations, and humanitarian workers are based, when an explosive device struck the building around 4:05 a.m. She did not survive.
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Two other civilians were also killed in the attack. According to RFI Afrique, the explosions were heard across multiple residential neighborhoods of Goma overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, with witnesses reporting both the sound of drones and successive detonations that rattled windows and doors before ambulance sirens filled the city at dawn.
“An investigation for flagrant murder constituting a war crime has been opened.”— France’s Parquet National Antiterroriste (PNAT), March 13, 2026
France Invokes War Crimes Law
France’s Parquet National Antiterroriste (PNAT), the national anti-terrorism and international crimes prosecutor, announced on Friday the opening of a formal flagrante delicto investigation “against persons unknown for murder constituting a war crime.” The investigation has been entrusted to the Office Central de Lutte contre les Crimes contre l’Humanité (OCLCH), the gendarmerie’s specialized unit for crimes against humanity, which will be responsible for establishing the exact circumstances of the attack and keeping the victim’s family informed.
The PNAT described the facts as appearing “connected to an armed conflict situation pitting Congolese forces against the movement known as M23.” Investigators have not attributed responsibility to either side.
France’s Foreign Ministry had earlier demanded an “independent and impartial inquiry,” stating that France was “ready to contribute to it.” President Emmanuel Macron had confirmed Buisset’s death on social media hours after the attack, extending “the support and emotion of the Nation” to her family and colleagues, and calling for respect for international humanitarian law.
Who Was Karine Buisset?
Karine Buisset had spent years working in humanitarian settings across conflict zones, ultimately dedicating her final assignment to eastern Congo. According to UNICEF, she was a specialist in protection against sexual exploitation and abuse, one of the most demanding and sensitive mandates in the humanitarian system, requiring daily exposure to survivors of violence in some of the most dangerous territory on the continent.
Her final mission in Goma had been extended at the last moment, according to French regional media. She had been residing in the Himbi district, a well-to-do neighborhood on the shores of Lake Kivu that houses both humanitarian organizations and, since M23’s takeover of Goma in January 2025, senior figures of the rebel movement. Security sources quoted by AFP suggested that the strikes may have been targeting rebel leaders or their associates in the area, and that Buisset’s residence was struck in error.
UNICEF described her as “a dedicated humanitarian who worked tirelessly to support children and families affected by conflict and crisis,” and said it was “devastated and outraged” by her killing. Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesperson for the Alliance Fleuve Congo, the political umbrella of which M23 is part, confirmed Buisset’s identity, describing her as “an eminent and respected member of UNICEF staff.”
Competing Accusations, No Confirmed Perpetrator
The immediate political battle over attribution began within hours of the strike. The AFC/M23 accused the Congolese national army (FARDC) of having carried out the attack, with political coordinator Corneille Nangaa calling the strikes “barbaric acts” amounting to “an intentional killing of the peace process.” M23 also said a second drone had targeted his own residence, but fell into Lake Kivu before detonating.
The Congolese government, which no longer maintains a physical presence in Goma, expressed “profound sadness” over Buisset’s death and announced an inquiry into “the circumstances and origin of the explosions” without directly claiming or denying involvement. Kinshasa’s statement pointedly recalled its “commitment to the respect of international law.”
MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, said the strike had involved “attack drones” and noted it was “unclaimed.” Acting head Bruno Lemarquis called for “a rapid, independent, and credible investigation to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.” They warned that deliberate attacks on UN personnel “could constitute war crimes” under the Rome Statute.
African Union Commission Condemns the Attack
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, issued a formal statement on March 12 expressing “deep concern” over the deaths of civilians and damage to residential areas. According to reporting by Actualite.cd, the AUC Chairperson “firmly condemned any attack endangering the lives of civilians and humanitarian personnel, in violation of international humanitarian law.”
“The African Union Commission reaffirms the imperative for all parties to exercise the utmost restraint, to avoid any action likely to worsen tensions and to ensure the protection of civilians and humanitarian actors operating in the region.”— AUC Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, statement, March 12, 2026
The AU also called for respect for ongoing mediation efforts and the opening of an impartial investigation. The statement placed the AU among a broad chorus of institutions, from UNICEF and the UN Secretary-General to regional governments and Western powers, demanding accountability for the strike.
European Union: A ‘Crime and an Abject Act’
In a joint statement published on the European Commission’s press corner (statement_26_609), EU High Representative Kaja Kallas and Commissioner for Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib condemned the attack in unambiguous terms. Lahbib, who had personally visited the DRC weeks earlier to press for humanitarian access, confirmed on social media that the drone strike had hit a residential building in Goma where EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) staff were also stationed, calling it “a crime and an abject act.”
The joint EU statement emphasized that aid workers must never be targeted, and reiterated Brussels’ call for all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law. The EU’s position echoed that of the broader International Contact Group for the Great Lakes which includes Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union which had already issued a collective statement on March 5 warning against the use of drones in military attacks that “pose an acute risk to civilian populations.”
A Pattern of Danger for Humanitarian Workers
The death of Karine Buisset does not occur in isolation. According to OCHA (the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), more than 650 incidents affecting humanitarian actors were recorded in eastern DRC in 2025 alone, resulting in 13 deaths and 41 injuries among humanitarian personnel across the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, Tanganyika, and Maniema. The January 2026 figure had appeared to show a slight decrease: 37 incidents, down from 48 in December 2025.
The Goma strike, the first to kill an international humanitarian worker in the city under M23 control, has reignited debate about whether the modest statistical improvement masked a qualitative deterioration in risk. Striking a house in a civilian residential district of a major city, in a neighborhood openly associated with the humanitarian community, represents a different category of threat than armed incidents at checkpoints or in contested rural areas.
Buisset’s death also came only three days after an international conference on the DRC humanitarian crisis, co-organized by France and Togo in Paris, at which UNICEF had alerted the international community to the situation of over twelve million children dependent on humanitarian aid in the Great Lakes region.
“Civilians, including aid workers, must never be targeted,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said after the attack. “This is international law. It must be respected.” In Goma, as in so much of eastern Congo, the gap between that legal imperative and the reality on the ground has rarely felt wider.