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The M23 rebel group consolidated control over the strategic town of Uvira in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, residents said, as Kinshasa warned that the Rwanda-backed advance could derail US President Donald Trump's efforts to broker peace in the region.
Sporadic gunfire echoed on Uvira's outskirts Thursday morning. For months, the town had served as the base of the Kinshasa-appointed provincial government after rebels captured the provincial capital, Bukavu, in February.
Despite the tension, residents ventured out in search of food after spending the previous day hiding in homes or fleeing to the countryside to avoid clashes.
"The government told us that Uvira would never fall and that the situation was under their control," said Godefroid Shengezi, a local teacher. “The reality today is quite the opposite.”
Shengezi said he had been unable to locate his three young children and feared they had crossed the nearby border into Burundi, where officials say they have received tens of thousands of refugees in recent days.
The rebel coalition called the Alliance Fleuve Congo, which includes the M23, said Uvira residents were safe and could resume their activities in the town.
PEACE PROCESS UNDER THREAT
The latest breakthrough in M23's advance in the mineral-rich region comes a week after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame met President Donald Trump in Washington and affirmed their commitment to a U.S.-brokered peace deal.
In a statement late on Wednesday, the Congolese government called for the international community to take "urgent measures" to ensure compliance with the deal, saying that "Rwandan aggression" was jeopardising it.
Congo's foreign minister, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, told Reuters this week that the United States should consider expanding sanctions on Rwandan individuals and the military.
Rwanda denies backing M23 and has blamed Congolese and Burundian forces for the renewed fighting.
M23 is not party to the Washington-mediated negotiations. It has been participating in a separate, parallel round of talks with the Congolese government, hosted by Qatar.
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have entered the eastern Congo town of Uvira in the biggest escalation for months during the long-running war.
The fall of Uvira to M23 underscores that durable peace in a region wracked by conflict for decades is still far off, said Jervin Naidoo of Oxford Economics.
“The (US-brokered) DRC–Rwanda deal fails to address the structural drivers of the conflict and crucially excludes M23, highlighting a fundamental flaw: lasting peace cannot be achieved without including the armed group at the negotiation table," Naidoo said.
NEARLY 25,000 REFUGEES CROSS TO BURUNDI
The United Nations said this week that some 200,000 people had fled their homes in recent days and scores of civilians had been killed.
Nearly 25,000 people crossed into Burundi between December 5 and December 8, U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told a briefing on Wednesday.
The World Food Programme has suspended activities across South Kivu province, cutting off life-saving aid for 25,000 people, he said.
At least 32 schools have stopped classes so they can provide shelter to displaced people, he said, warning that overcrowding raised the risk of disease outbreaks.