Kinshasa (AFP) – Streets were empty, shops shuttered, and soldiers fled a key eastern DR Congo city Wednesday, a day after the Rwanda-backed M23 militia entered the outskirts. This move was described by Burundi as a “middle finger” to the United States following the signing of a peace deal in Washington. M23 fighters entered the strategic city of Uvira, located at the gateway to Burundi, late Tuesday, plunging the city of several hundred thousand residents into uncertainty regarding who was in control.
This incident comes less than a year after the anti-government group seized Goma and Bukavu, two provincial capitals in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been plagued by conflict for around three decades. “The residents are locked inside their homes,” one individual told AFP. “Everyone is staying home,” another added. “We don’t understand anything; we can only wait for new authorities to take over. We can’t remain without an army or police,” a third resident expressed. All spoke by telephone and requested anonymity.
The latest offensive, launched on December 1 against the Congolese army supported by Burundian forces and allied armed groups, has further shaken hopes that an agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump will succeed in halting the conflict. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame signed the deal in Washington last Thursday. Burundian Foreign Minister Edouard Bizimana stated, “Signing an agreement and not implementing it is a humiliation for everyone, and first and foremost for President Trump.” He emphasized that it “truly is a slap in the face to the United States, a middle finger,” and added that sanctions against Rwanda were “necessary”.
Rwanda accused the DRC and Burundi of deliberately violating the peace agreement in a statement released Wednesday. A day earlier, the United States and European powers urged the M23 to “immediately halt” its offensive and for Rwanda to withdraw its troops from eastern DRC.
Burundi, which borders both the DRC and Rwanda, views the possibility of Uvira falling to Rwanda-backed forces as an existential threat. Uvira is located across Lake Tanganyika from the Burundian economic capital Bujumbura, with only about 20 kilometers (12 miles) separating the two cities. Following the events, Burundi’s main border posts with the DRC were closed on Tuesday afternoon and are now designated as “military zones,” according to military and police sources relayed to AFP.
The M23 has also closed the border on the Congolese side, although it remains unclear whether they have fully taken control of Uvira. Reports indicate that several Congolese army soldiers and members of pro-Kinshasa militia were still seen in the Uvira area, and a few stray gunshots were reported. The city, nestled between mountains and Lake Tanganyika, had begun to empty on Tuesday as soldiers, police, and administrative personnel fled before the M23’s advance.
Residents speaking to AFP by phone described a “every man for himself” mentality amidst growing panic. Congolese soldiers, some of whom abandoned their weapons and uniforms, were reportedly seen looting shops and a pharmacy in their escape, according to witnesses and military sources. Several residents communicated with AFP by telephone on Wednesday afternoon, confirming sightings of M23 fighters in Uvira’s northern districts. “I can confirm the presence of M23 in the city,” a civil society representative related to AFP. “I’ve just seen the M23 with my own eyes pass by my house.”
More than 40,000 Congolese have fled the fighting, arriving in Burundi over the span of a week, as reported by the Burundian foreign minister. According to an initial estimate from the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA, over 200,000 individuals have been displaced within South Kivu province since December 2. Additionally, thousands of others have crossed borders into neighboring countries, particularly Burundi, but also Rwanda.
The latest advance on Uvira represents a new setback for the DRC government. European diplomatic sources reveal that Kinshasa fears the M23 advancing further towards the copper- and cobalt-rich Katanga province in southeastern DRC, which serves as the vast country’s mining hub, crucial for filling the state’s coffers through taxation of mining companies. The peace agreement, which Trump referred to as a “miracle” deal, includes an economic component aimed at securing US supplies of critical minerals found in the region, as the United States seeks to counter China’s dominance in the sector.
According to UN experts, the M23 receives support from up to 7,000 Rwandan troops stationed in eastern DRC. Burundi, maintaining tense relations with Rwanda, deployed approximately 10,000 soldiers to eastern DRC in October 2023 as a part of a military cooperation agreement, and security sources indicate that reinforcements have increased this presence to around 18,000 personnel. Although Rwanda denies providing military support to the M23, it argues that it faces an existential threat from the presence of ethnic Hutu militants in eastern DRC, linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis.
© 2024 AFP
