December 16, 2025, 09:52December 16, 2025, 09:52
In the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the M23 militia, supported by Rwanda, has announced its withdrawal from the city of Uvira, which was conquered just a few days ago. The militia will “unilaterally” withdraw its fighters from the city on Lake Tanganyika at the request of the USA, said the political leader of the M23, Corneille Nangaa, on Tuesday.
Soldiers of the Rwanda Patriotic Front.Image: keystone
He called on the “guarantors of the peace process” to take “appropriate measures for the administration of the city”, especially for “demilitarization, the protection of the population and infrastructure and the monitoring of the ceasefire by a neutral force”.
The M23 fighters captured Uvira in eastern DR Congo last Wednesday. They had continued to advance despite a US-brokered peace agreement at the beginning of December. According to consistent information from the UN and the authorities in Burundi, around 30,000 people had fled to the neighboring country within a week.
At the end of November, a ceasefire was agreed between the DR Congo and the militia. Image: keystone
The M23 militia said on Tuesday that it was referring to the “Doha peace process,” which runs parallel to US diplomatic efforts. The DR Congo and the militia signed a ceasefire agreement in the Qatari capital at the end of November. Regardless, the fighting continued.
Uvira is located on the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, located between Congo and Burundi. On the northwest side lies Bujumbura, the most economically important city in Burundi. Congo’s small neighboring country sees the approaching M23 militia as an existential threat.
The mineral-rich east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been rocked by bloody conflicts for three decades. At the beginning of the year the M23 collapsed there, which made the situation even worse. In the course of this offensive, the M23 captured, among other things, the major cities of Goma and Bukavu. Thousands of people were killed in the fighting.
Rwanda denies supporting the M23. However, United Nations experts assume that the Rwandan army played a “decisive” role in the militia’s offensive (sda/afp)
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