A US brokered peace agreement between Congo and Rwanda was teetering Thursday after more than 400 civilians were killed in a renewed offensive by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group in eastern Congo, officials said.
M23 captures key lakeside city of Uvira
Residents and local authorities said M23 fighters took full control of Uvira, a strategic port on the northern shore of Lake Tanganyika, on Wednesday afternoon. Sporadic gunfire continued on the city’s outskirts Thursday morning, but streets were mostly calm as people emerged to look for food.
Uvira had served as the provisional seat of South Kivu’s provincial government since M23 seized the regional capital, Bukavu, in February.
“The government assured us Uvira would never fall,” teacher Godefroid Shengezi told Newsroom by telephone. “Now the rebels are here.”
Death toll climbs above 413 in two weeks
South Kivu provincial authorities said late Wednesday that at least 413 civilians — many of them women and children — had been killed by gunfire, grenades and bombs in fighting between Uvira and Bukavu since early December.
The provincial government accused Rwandan special forces and foreign mercenaries of fighting alongside M23, “in flagrant violation” of recent cease-fire agreements reached in Washington and Doha.
The surge has forced another 200,000 people from their homes, aid groups said.
Washington accord unravels days after signing
The violence erupted less than a week after Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame signed a U.S.-mediated peace roadmap in Washington aimed at ending years of cross-border tensions.
Although M23 was not a signatory, the deal required Rwanda to end all support for armed groups inside Congo.
On Wednesday, the US Embassy in Kinshasa called on M23 and Rwandan forces to “immediately cease all offensive operations” and demanded the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congolese soil.
A State Department spokesperson earlier this week said the United States remained “deeply concerned” and stated that Rwanda “continues to provide support to M23.”
Rwanda’s Foreign Ministry rejected the accusations Thursday, posting on X that Congolese forces had openly declared they would not honor any cease-fire while trying to retake lost territory.
Rebel group has grown sharply
UN experts say M23 has expanded from a few hundred fighters in 2021 to roughly 6,500 today. They estimate up to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers are operating inside Congo alongside the rebels — an allegation Kigali denies but partially confirmed last year when it acknowledged deploying troops and missile systems for self-defense.
Humanitarian crisis deepens
More than 100 armed groups are active in mineral-rich eastern Congo, but M23 has become the most powerful challenge to government control.
The United Nations says the wider conflict has displaced more than 7 million people across the region, one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
Aid officials warned that the apparent collapse of the US-brokered deal could trigger an even deadlier phase in a war that has already killed millions over three decades.
Agencies contributed to this report
