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2d ago

M23 Says It Will Pull Out of Uvira After U.S. Request

The pledge follows a week of fighting that left scores dead and displaced roughly 200,000 people.

Congolese civilians walk at Maendeleo market as calm returns after clashes between members of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) and the M23 Movement, who took control of Uvira from the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), in Uvira on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, South Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, December 15, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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M23 fighters captured the key city of Uvira last week in eastern DR Congo
Despite a US-brokered ceasefire, the M23 militia launched an offensive in early December and seized the strategic border town of Uvira

Overview

  • Rebel leader Corneille Nangaa announced a withdrawal from the eastern Congo city as a unilateral trust-building measure tied to the Doha talks, though a local civil society activist said fighters remained in Uvira on Tuesday.
  • An M23 source said both sides would pull back 5 kilometers to create a buffer zone around the border town, which the group captured on December 10.
  • Human Rights Watch, citing UN and media reports, reported at least 74 civilian deaths, 83 wounded, and widespread use of drones and heavy artillery during the offensive, with more than 200,000 people fleeing, including over 30,000 into Burundi.
  • Washington said Rwanda’s actions violated the Washington Accords, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowing to take action, while Rwanda denied backing M23 despite UN expert findings that Kigali exercises command and control over the rebels.
  • Aid operations have been disrupted, with the UN World Food Programme suspending assistance across South Kivu and Médecins Sans Frontières halting activities in Baraka, as M23 also claimed—without independent confirmation—to hold several hundred captured Burundian soldiers.