Jan 19 (Reuters) – Congolese soldiers and combatants from a pro-government militia have re-entered the eastern town of Uvira, residents said on Monday, just over a month after it fell to Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in a blow to peace efforts mediated by the Trump administration.
M23 entered Uvira, an important base for the Congolese army near the border with Burundi, on December 10, days after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan leader Paul Kagame met President Donald Trump in Washington and reaffirmed a U.S.-brokered peace deal.
The capture marked the rebels’ biggest gains in months, fueling fears of regional spillover from fighting that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands in the last year.
M23 staged a lightning advance in January 2025 and still holds more territory than ever before, including Goma and Bukavu, the capitals of North and South Kivu provinces respectively.
HEAVY FIGHTING, LOOTING
After U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in December that Rwanda’s actions in mineral-rich eastern Congo were violating the peace deal, M23 pledged to withdraw from Uvira to give peace talks a chance.
Heavy fighting has continued on the outskirts of Uvira, and M23 and the Congolese government on Sunday traded accusations of looting inside the town.
Two residents and a civil society activist based in Uvira said on Monday that Congolese soldiers and members of the Wazalendo militia returned over the weekend and were visible throughout the town, having retaken positions they occupied before M23’s arrival.
Jean-Jacques Purusi, the Kinshasa-appointed governor of South Kivu province where Uvira is located, said the Gatumba crossing at the Congo-Burundi border, which closed when M23 took Uvira, would soon reopen.
Rwanda denies backing M23 and has blamed Congolese and Burundian forces for the renewed fighting. A report by a United Nations group of experts in July assessed that Rwanda exercised command and control over the rebels.
The United States has hosted talks between Congo and Rwanda, while Qatar has hosted separate talks between Congo and M23.
During a meeting in Togo focused on eastern Congo, African leaders on Saturday reaffirmed their support for the Doha talks and called for them to resume without delay.
(Reporting by Congo newsroom; Additional reporting by Alice Lawson in Lome; Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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