Overview
- Local sources reported exchanges of fire between M23 fighters and pro-government Wazalendo militias in and around Uvira, with shooting heard across the city.
- M23 had announced a unilateral withdrawal, yet security and local sources pointed to plainclothes fighters staying in town as Congolese forces dismissed the pledge as a media ploy.
- Fighting was concentrated in southern and southwestern areas near Kalundu port and Mulongwe, where residents described explosives and stray bullets.
- The UN Security Council extended MONUSCO’s mandate, and the United States urged M23 and forces backing it to retreat at least 75 kilometers from Uvira under the Doha framework.
- The UN reported more than 84,000 people fleeing into Burundi since early December as reception sites strain capacity, while M23 organized the December 14 repatriation of over 500 Burundians and said the Washington accord does not bind the group.