Wednesday, December 10, 2025 - Fierce fighting erupted in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, December 9, as the Rwanda backed M23 militia rapidly advanced toward the strategic city of Uvira near the border with Burundi, despite the recent signing of a peace agreement between Kinshasa and Kigali. Security and military sources told AFP that the armed group and its Rwandan allies were positioned about 15 kilometres north of Uvira, closing in from roughly 30 kilometres away just a day earlier. The renewed violence has cast doubt on the durability of last week’s deal signed by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Washington under the supervision of US President Donald Trump, which Trump described as a “miracle” agreement to end the long running conflict.
Eastern Congo, a region rich in natural resources, has been
plagued by successive wars for nearly three decades, with violence surging
again earlier this year when M23 fighters captured the key eastern city of Goma
in January, followed weeks later by Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.
Although the new peace agreement includes an economic component aimed at
securing United States access to critical minerals in the region as Washington
seeks to counter China’s dominance in the sector, fighting continued even on
the day the deal was signed. That day, heavy clashes were reported in South
Kivu, including the bombing of houses and schools.
On Tuesday, clashes broke out in Sange and Runingo, two
small localities within 20 kilometres of Uvira, as security and military
sources confirmed the rapid advance of M23 fighters alongside the Rwandan army.
Within Uvira itself, witnesses and military officials said Congolese soldiers
fleeing the fighting arrived in the city overnight, and shops were looted at
dawn as panic spread. Several hundred Congolese and Burundian soldiers had
already crossed into Burundi on Monday, according to military sources.
Bombing above the densely populated city of several hundred
thousand residents triggered widespread fear. “We are all under the beds in
Uvira, that’s the reality,” one resident said. The strategic importance of
Uvira is heightened by its location across Lake Tanganyika from Bujumbura,
Burundi’s economic capital, making the prospect of the city falling to Rwanda
backed forces an existential threat for Burundi.
Burundi deployed around 10,000 soldiers to eastern Congo in
October 2023 under a military cooperation agreement, and military sources say
that number has since risen to as many as 20,000 following reinforcements. The
latest offensive toward Uvira was launched by M23 and Rwandan forces on
December 1, further intensifying fears of a wider regional escalation despite
diplomatic efforts to restore peace.
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