{"id":440949,"date":"2025-12-11T21:27:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T21:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/440949\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T21:27:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T21:27:15","slug":"more-than-400-civilians-killed-in-fighting-in-eastern-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/440949\/","title":{"rendered":"More than 400 civilians killed in fighting in eastern Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"

GOMA, Congo (AP) \u2014 More than 400 civilians have been killed since the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group<\/a> escalated its offensive in the South Kivu province in eastern Congo, regional officials said, adding that Rwandan special forces were in the strategic city of Uvira.<\/p>\n

M23\u2019s latest offensive<\/a> comes despite a U.S.-mediated peace agreement<\/a> signed last week by the Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Washington. The accord didn\u2019t include the rebel group, which is negotiating separately with Congo and agreed earlier this year<\/a> to a ceasefire that both sides accuse the other of violating. However, it obliges Rwanda to halt support for armed groups and work to end hostilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than 413 civilians (have been) killed by bullets, grenades, and bombs, including many women, children, and young people\u201d in localities between Uvira and Bukavu, the regional capital, the South Kivu government spokesperson said in a statement late Wednesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to the information gathered, the forces present in the city are composed of Rwandan special forces and some of their foreign mercenaries, operating in clear violation of the ceasefire as well as the Washington and Doha agreements, in total disregard of the commitments made,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n

U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres called for the \u201cimmediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guterres \u201cis deeply alarmed by the escalation in violence in South Kivu and its humanitarian consequences,\u201d said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general.<\/p>\n

Conflict spreads<\/p>\n

M23 said it had taken control of the strategic city of Uvira in eastern Congo on Wednesday afternoon, following a rapid offensive since the start of the month. Uvira is an important port city on the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika and is directly across from neighboring Burundi\u2019s largest city, Bujumbura.<\/p>\n

The announcement by M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka, posted on X, encouraged citizens who fled to return to their homes.<\/p>\n

Congo, the U.S. and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which had hundreds of members in 2021. Now, according to the U.N., the group has around 6,500 fighters.<\/p>\n

While Rwanda denies that claim, it acknowledged last year that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo, allegedly to safeguard its security. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Burundian Foreign Minister Edouard Bizimana, in an interview with French state media RFI on Wednesday, urged the U.S. to pressure Rwandan President Paul Kagame to ensure the implementation of the agreement signed in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cM23 without Kagame, without Rwanda, is nothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bizimana said the capture of Uvira poses a threat to the economic capital, Bujumbura.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have registered more than 30,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in the last three days \u2026 Uvira and Bujumbura are coastal cities. What threatens Uvira also threatens Bujumbura.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Kanyuka said on X that \u201csome Burundian forces have returned to their national territory, while others have entrenched themselves in the highlands,\u201d referring to the hills of Uvira and Mininebwe in South Kivu. <\/p>\n

\u201cSince early Thursday morning, Dec. 11, 2025, these elements entrenched in the highlands have resumed, with unacceptable brutality, their campaign of extermination against our Tutsi Banyamulenge compatriots in Minembwe, indiscriminately launching bombs and using heavy artillery that is killing innocent civilians, including women and children,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n

The chairperson of the African Union, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, on Thursday said he \u201cdeeply regrets these clashes and the violence perpetrated against civilian populations, which run counter to the momentum generated by the Doha Framework Agreement\u201d between congo and AFC\/M23, \u201cas well as the Washington D.C. Agreement between the DRC and Rwanda.\u201d He also called on all parties \u201cto exercise restraint and to prioritize a political solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Struggle for mineral-rich territory <\/p>\n

In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa urged M23 and Rwandan troops to cease all offensive operations and for the Rwandan Defense Forces to withdraw to Rwanda.<\/p>\n

The Rwandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed the Congolese armed forces for the recent ceasefire violations in a statement on X on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DRC has openly stated that it would not observe any ceasefire, and was fighting to recapture territories lost to AFC\/M23, even as the peace process unfolded,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

More than 100 armed groups are vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, most prominently M23. The conflict has created one of the world\u2019s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, according to the U.N. agency for refugees.<\/a><\/p>\n

Local U.N. partners report that more than 200,000 people have been displaced across the province since Dec. 2, with more than 70 killed. Civilians also have crossed into Burundi, and there have been reports of shells falling in the town of Rugombo, on the Burundian side of the border, raising concerns about the conflict spilling over into Burundian territory.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Renovat Ndabashinze in Bujumbura, Burundi, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GOMA, Congo (AP) \u2014 More than 400 civilians have been killed since the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group escalated…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":440950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[36676,201208,63643,18596,18888,84,69,57,3497,3464,203485,176192,50,170711,80,2060,5201,1206,370,8572,96,93,103,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-440949","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-antonio-guterres","9":"tag-burundi","10":"tag-democratic-republic-of-congo","11":"tag-democratic-republic-of-the-congo","12":"tag-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-government","13":"tag-district-of-columbia","14":"tag-donald-trump","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-humanitarian-crises","17":"tag-international-agreements","18":"tag-lawrence-kanyuka","19":"tag-mahmoud-ali-youssouf","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-paul-kagame","22":"tag-politics","23":"tag-rebellions-and-uprisings","24":"tag-rwanda","25":"tag-united-nations","26":"tag-united-states-government","27":"tag-violence","28":"tag-war-and-unrest","29":"tag-washington-news","30":"tag-world","31":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115703057562271619","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}