Regional officials in eastern Congo say more than 400 civilians have lost their lives since the M23 armed group expanded its assault in South Kivu province, adding that Rwandan special forces were seen inside the strategic city of Uvira.
This surge in violence comes despite a US-brokered peace deal signed just last week in Washington by the presidents of Congo and Rwanda. The agreement did not involve M23, which is negotiating separately with Kinshasa and had agreed earlier this year to a ceasefire both sides now blame each other for breaking.
According to the South Kivu government spokesperson, “More than 413 civilians have been killed by bullets, grenades, and bombs, including many women, children, and young people” in communities located between Uvira and Bukavu, the provincial capital.
The spokesperson also claimed that those operating inside Uvira include Rwandan special forces and foreign mercenaries, actions described as a clear breach of the ceasefire, as well as the Washington and Doha agreements, a complete disregard for commitments made by Rwanda.
Conflict Spreads Across the Region
On Wednesday afternoon, M23 announced it had seized control of Uvira after a rapid advance this month. In a statement posted on X, the rebel group’s spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka urged residents who fled to return home.
Uvira, a major port city sitting at the northern edge of Lake Tanganyika, lies directly across from Burundi’s economic heart, Bujumbura.
Congo, alongside the US and UN experts, continues to accuse Rwanda of backing M23. The group, which had only a few hundred fighters in 2021, now boasts roughly 6,500 members, according to UN estimates. Rwanda rejects the accusation but admitted last year that it has troops and missile systems stationed in eastern Congo, claiming they are there for defensive purposes.
UN investigators estimate as many as 4,000 Rwandan forces are on Congolese soil.
Burundi’s Foreign Minister, Edouard Bizimana, speaking to RFI on Wednesday, called on Washington to pressure Rwandan President Paul Kagame to enforce the commitments he signed. “M23 without Kagame, without Rwanda, is nothing,” he said.
Bizimana warned that the fall of Uvira threatens Burundi’s commercial capital, Bujumbura. “We have registered more than 30,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in the last three days … Uvira and Bujumbura are coastal cities. What threatens Uvira also threatens Bujumbura.”
On Thursday, Kanyuka posted again on X, saying some Burundian troops had gone back to Burundi, while others had dug in on the highlands of Uvira and Minembwe.
He claimed that “since early Thursday morning, Dec. 11, 2025, these elements entrenched in the highlands have resumed, with unacceptable brutality, their campaign of extermination against our Tutsi Banyamulenge compatriots in Minembwe, indiscriminately launching bombs and using heavy artillery that is killing innocent civilians, including women and children.”
