Rwanda-backed rebels enter strategic DR Congo town, as Trump peace deal crumbles

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have entered the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Uvira, near the Burundian border, in the biggest escalation in months of the long-running war, sources said on Wednesday. Uvira, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, has served as the headquarters of the Kinshasa-appointed government in South Kivu province and its regional military base since the provincial capital, Bukavu, fell to M23 in February. Control of Uvira could open the way for the rebels to advance beyond South Kivu. The latest breakthrough in M23’s advance through the mineral-rich region comes less than a week after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame met with President Donald Trump in Washington and affirmed their commitment to a US-brokered peace deal. Since then, the DR Congo and Rwanda have accused each other of violating that agreement. DR Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner has urged Washington to expand targeted sanctions against Rwanda to “restore the credibility” of its mediation efforts. Rwanda, which denies backing M23, has blamed Congolese forces and Burundi for the renewed fighting. The violence in Uvira shows that merely signing deals in Washington is “not enough to ensure the safety of civilians in eastern Congo”, said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director for Human Rights Watch. The United Nations says some 200,000 people have fled their homes in recent days and scores of civilians have been killed. It was not clear on Wednesday whether M23 had full control of Uvira. “There’s still shooting,” said one resident who declined to be named for safety reasons. M23 was telling residents to stay home as its forces cleared out any resistance, the resident said. A Congolese government source said that the military would not react, so as to protect civilians. “The city of Uvira is now liberated,” Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesman for a coalition that includes M23, said on social media. But Burundi’s foreign minister, Edouard Bizimana, said that Uvira “has not yet fallen”. M23 staged a lightning advance in eastern DR Congo in January, seizing more territory than ever before, including Goma and Bukavu, the region’s two largest cities. The rebels have since tightened their grip on power in areas under their control but had refrained from making major advances as they took part in peace talks led by Qatar in Doha. Reuters reported on Monday that M23 had captured Luvungi, a town that had marked the front line since February, and that fierce fighting was under way near Sange and Kiliba, villages further along the road towards Uvira from the north. On Tuesday, the US and nine other members of the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes voiced “profound concern” over the renewed clashes in South Kivu, warning that the violence could destabilise the wider region. In an interview late on Tuesday, the Congolese foreign minister said Washington should ramp up sanctions on Rwanda, targeting “individuals in the chain of command” and institutions such as the Rwandan military to curb its ability to buy weapons. “Washington has to restore the credibility of its process through accountability,” Wagner said. “It is not enough to condemn. It is not enough to be preoccupied or to be concerned.” Rwanda says its troops are in eastern DR Congo for “defensive measures”, although Washington and the United Nations say evidence of Rwandan support for the rebels is clear. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on Wednesday that more sanctions would not end the fighting, blaming Kinshasa’s failure to implement peace deals or honour an air-strike moratorium that he said was agreed on in Washington last month. Congolese forces have been attacking rebel positions and local communities in South Kivu province for “weeks and months” before the recent escalation, he said. “The international community has not demanded an end to these attacks prepared for months by the DRC and instigated in the past week,” Rwanda’s foreign ministry said, adding that Burundi was helping Congolese forces bomb towns close to its border. “The Burundian army has amassed close to 20,000 troops in South Kivu in the service of the government of DRC.” Burundi did not immediately respond to Rwanda’s statement.

Rwanda-backed rebels enter strategic DR Congo town, as Trump peace deal crumbles

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}M23 advance in DR Congo comes less than a week after after the signing of a peace deal in Washington

M23 advance in DR Congo comes less than a week after after the signing of a peace deal in Washington