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About 200,000 people have fled their homes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as Rwanda-backed rebels march on a strategic eastern town just days after Donald Trump hosted the Rwandan and Congolese leaders to proclaim peace.
The UN said at least 74 people had been killed, mostly civilians, and 83 admitted to hospital with wounds from escalating clashes in the area in recent days.
Local officials and residents said M23 rebels had been advancing towards the lakeside town of Uvira on the border with Burundi and fighting Congolese troops and local groups known as Wazalendo in villages to the north.
Trump hosted the presidents of Rwanda and DRC in Washington on 4 December for a ceremony to sign a pact affirming US and Qatari-brokered commitments to end the war.
“Today we’re succeeding where so many others have failed,” he said, claiming his administration had ended a 30-year conflict that had led to the deaths of millions.
M23 fighters pushed towards Uvira on Tuesday after coming under attack by government forces, said Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Alliance Fleuve Congo rebel coalition, urging fleeing soldiers not to abandon the town.
The South Kivu provincial government spokesperson Didier Kabi said in a video message earlier on Tuesday that there had been chaos in Uvira after rumours spread that M23 rebels were near, but that calm was later restored.
Despite the group’s intention to advance on Uvira, its leader, Bertrand Bisimwa, reiterated the group’s support for Qatari-led peace talks in Doha, where representatives from the two sides signed a framework agreement last month for a peace deal intended to halt the fighting in eastern DRC.
“Even if we counterattack, we said that there are no other solutions in the current crisis than the negotiating table, and we want to bring Kinshasa to the negotiating table,” he said.
On Monday the rebels captured Luvungi, a town that had stood as the frontline since February, and fierce fighting was under way near Sange and Kiliba, villages further along the road towards Uvira from the north.
Rwanda denies supporting the rebels in DRC, although Washington and the UN say there is clear evidence to the contrary. The conflict had already displaced at least 1.2 million people before the latest upsurge in fighting.
The state department said late on Monday that the US was deeply concerned by the violence. “Rwanda, which continues to provide support to M23, must prevent further escalation,” a spokesperson said.
