Source: Africa Publicity
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels say they will withdraw from the eastern Congolese town of Uvira, following a request from the United States after Washington criticised the town’s capture as a setback to ongoing peace efforts.
The announcement comes days after the seizure of Uvira, a strategic town near the Burundi border, and shortly after the presidents of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, where both leaders reaffirmed their support for a U.S.-brokered peace framework known as the Washington Accords.
U.S. Response and Regional Tensions
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Rwanda’s conduct in eastern Congo breached commitments under the Washington Accords, warning that Washington would “take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept.”
Rwanda has repeatedly denied backing the M23 insurgency, instead accusing Congolese and Burundian forces of provoking the renewed fighting. However, a United Nations group of experts reported in July that Rwanda exercised command and control over the rebel group.
Rebels Describe Move as Confidence-Building
Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, a coalition that includes M23, said in a post on X that the withdrawal would be carried out as a goodwill gesture. He described it as a “unilateral trust-building measure” intended to give momentum to the Doha peace process, a separate mediation track hosted by Qatar.
Although M23 is not a formal participant in the Washington-led negotiations, it has been engaged in parallel talks with the Congolese government in Doha.
A rebel source said the plan includes both M23 and Congolese forces pulling back about 5 kilometres (3 miles) from Uvira to form a buffer zone, a proposal the group publicly outlined last week.
Congolese Army Rejects Loss of Control
The Congolese military has signalled it does not accept M23’s continued presence around the town. Army spokesperson General Sylvain Ekenge said government forces remain determined to retake Uvira.
“Uvira is a city in the DRC. We will do everything in our power to reclaim the city and secure it,” he said.
Officials in Congo and Burundi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mixed Local Reactions
On Tuesday, hundreds of residents marched in Uvira in a demonstration organised to thank M23 for driving out Congolese and allied forces. March organiser Freddy Mutupeke said participants felt relieved after months of violence and insecurity, describing the rebels as liberators—an indication of the deeply divided local sentiment in the conflict zone.
Wider Conflict Context
M23 launched a rapid offensive in January, capturing the two largest cities in eastern Congo. The fighting has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians. Since then, the group has moved to set up a parallel administration in areas under its control, raising fears that eastern Congo could face a prolonged political and territorial fracture.
Whether the announced withdrawal from Uvira will be implemented—and whether it will ease tensions or simply mark another pause in the fighting—remains uncertain.
