Trump's peace deal at risk as DR Congo rebels advance on key town

Rwandan-backed rebels pushed into the outskirts of the strategic city of Uvira in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, local authorities said, as part of a new offensive that the UN says has displaced more than 200,000 residents in recent days.

The latest offensive by the M23 rebel group comes despite a US-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 government 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.

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.

Millions displaced

The conflict in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda 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 US 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 US 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.

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 UN 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.