GOMA, Congo (AP) — Rwandan-backed rebels pushed into the outskirts of the strategic city of Uvira in eastern Congo on Tuesday, local authorities said, as part of a new offensive that the U.N. says has displaced more than 200,000 residents in recent days.
The latest offensive by the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group comes despite a U.S.-mediated peace agreement signed last week by the Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Washington. The accord did not include the rebels, who are negotiating separately with the Congo and agreed earlier this year to a ceasefire that both sides accuse the other of violating, but it obliges Rwanda to halt support for armed groups and work to end hostilities.
Marafiki Masimango, a representative of Uvira civil society, said rebels were pushing south into the South Kivu province city late Tuesday and that some of government soldiers protecting the city had fled. He said residents were panicked and that he himself fled before sundown.
If the remaining soldiers put up much resistance, then “there’s a risk of a massacre, and many people will perish,” Masimango said.
John Kashwinze, secretary to the mayor of Uvira, denied reports that M23 rebels were in the city late Tuesday night.
However, a senior Congolese army officer said soldiers were fleeing the rebel offensive and heading south and east toward the border with Burundi. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive operation.
More than 100 armed groups are vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, most prominently the Rwanda-backed M23 group. The conflict has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, officials say.
In a statement on Tuesday night, the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes (ICG) an informal monitoring group, made up of several countries including the U.S. and the EU, expressed concern about the renewed offensive and the proximity of the fighting to the Burundian border, which “risks destabilizing the whole region.”
Last week, residents said the fighting had intensified in South Kivu despite the deal signed in Washington with U.S. President Donald Trump in attendance. M23 and Congolese forces have repeatedly accused each other of violating the terms of the ceasefire agreed on earlier this year.
Local UN partners report that more than 200,000 people have been displaced across the province since Dec. 2, with more than 70 killed. Civilians also have 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 Burundian territory.
Congo Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya, in comments Tuesday, blamed Rwanda for the most recent rebel offensive in South Kivu and called it a violation of the Washington agreement. His Rwandan counterpart, Yolande Makolo, blamed the Congo in a post on X.
The rebels in Congo are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the east.
Earlier this year, M23 seized Goma and Bukavu, two key cities in eastern Congo, in a major escalation of the years long conflict.
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