M23-backed Rwandan rebels claim to have captured strategic town of UVIRA in East Congo

The Rwanda-backed Rebel Group M23 said it had captured the strategic town of UVIRA in Eastern Congo on Wednesday afternoon, following a rapid offensive since the beginning of the month.

This announcement, made to X by M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyaka, encouraged residents to return to their homes. UVIRA is an important port city in the northern part of Lake Tanganyika and directly facing the largest city of Burundi, Bujumbura.

Congolese authorities did not immediately comment that M23 had taken over the city.

M23’s latest offense comes despite the revised Peace Agreement signed last week by the Congolese Congo The Accord did not include the rebels, who negotiated separately with the Congo and agreed earlier this year to the end of the world accusing the other of violating the law. But it forces Rwanda to end support for armed groups and work to end hostilities.

Residents of UVIRA reported a chaotic night when Congolese soldiers fled, and gunfire was reported throughout the village.

More than 100 armed groups are fighting pogoldol in Mineral-Rich Eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, most prominently the M23 group. The conflict has created one of the world’s most serious crises, with more than seven million people displaced, officials say.

Last week, residents said the war escalated in South Kivu, despite the agreement signed in Washington, DC, with US President Donald Trump not present.

Local callers report that more than 200,000 people have been displaced across the state since December 2, and more than 70 have been killed. Civilians have also crossed into Burundi, and there have been reports of shells falling in the town of Rugombo, on the Burundian side of the border, raising concerns about the conflict spilling over into Burundi.

A Congolese government source told Reuters the army would not react in advance, to protect civilians.

Rebels in Congo are backed by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to UN experts, and have at one point vowed to reach Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, about 1,600 kilometers to the east.

Earlier this year, M23 held Goma and Bukavu, two main cities in eastern Congo, in the biggest conflict of its time.

On Monday, Reuters reported that M23 had taken Luvuli, a town that had been on the front line since February, and that fierce fighting continued near Shange and Kiliba, towns along the road to Uvira from the north.

Some members of the US and other members of the International Thinka Group (ICG) of the Great Lakes expressed “deep concern” on Tuesday about renewed conflicts in the province of South Kivu, where Uvira is located, warning that the violence could destabilize the wider region.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Burundi, Edouard Bizimana, told Radio France International.