Kinshasa: Violent fighting erupted on Saturday between pro-Kinshasa forces and M23 rebels near Uvira, a key border city connecting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Burundi, according to local sources. Kelvin Bwija, a civil society coordinator in Uvira, reported that fighting took place in the localities of Kashombe, Lubanda, Musingwe, Katongo, and Kigongo, situated about 10 kilometers from Uvira.
According to Deutsche Welle, the Congolese army presented 15 prisoners of war at a recent press conference, consisting of seven Rwandan soldiers and eight civilians from Burundi, Uganda, and Tanzania, accused of spying for the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The Congolese army, the FARDC, claimed these soldiers, arrested on different front lines, are evidence of a Rwandan army presence in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, alongside M23 rebels. This development comes just weeks after the DRC signed a United States-brokered peace deal aimed at ending decades of conflict and promoting development in eastern Congo. Both sides have accused each other of jeopardizing the peace agreement.
In mid-December, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz condemned the "scale and sophistication" of Rwanda's involvement in the eastern Congo, accusing Kigali of deploying roughly 5,000-7,000 troops there. Since the beginning of December, "Rwandan operations" have caused the deaths of around 1,500 civilians through the use of "bombs and kamikaze drones," according to a Congolese government statement. The DRC also accused Kigali of sending "three new Rwandan battalions" into the eastern South Kivu province. Rwanda has repeatedly denied backing M23.
AFP news agency reported that while M23 had publicly stated it would withdraw from Uvira on December 17, purportedly after US pressure, local sources claim plainclothes M23 members remained in the city. The United Nations estimates over 80,000 people have fled to regional ally Burundi.
M23's military strength around Uvira grants it significant control over Congo's land border with Burundi and its associated trade routes. Relations between Rwanda and Burundi have been tense since 2015, after Burundi accused its neighbor of harboring groups seeking to overthrow its government. Burundi's military has been involved in the DRC conflict for years, either as a member of the East African Regional Force or by allowing the Congolese military to use its resources to attack M23 positions.
"Once M23 captured Goma and Bukavu, we saw Burundi play a more logistical role where the Congolese military were deploying planes from Bujumbura Airport," said South Africa-based risk analyst Daniel Van Dalen. Van Dalen noted that political tensions between Burundi and Rwanda have led to a "militarized buildup along the common border areas."
Since taking up arms in 2021, M23 has seized the provincial centers of Bukavu and Goma near the Rwandan border. The rebels also control vast, resource-rich areas of eastern Congo. The fighting between the Congolese army, its pro-government Wazalendo militia affiliates, and the well-equipped M23 rebels has caused a humanitarian catastrophe. The UN estimates the M23's military advances have internally displaced at least half a million people within Congo's South Kivu province alone.