Congolese troops and allied Wazalendo militia have reentered Uvira after M23 announced a withdrawal, the army and local residents said. Sporadic gunfire persisted despite the return, and the offensive has already killed more than 1,500 people and displaced roughly 300,000 locally. The fighting is part of a wider conflict in eastern Congo that has pushed over 7 million people from their homes and continues despite a U.S.-brokered agreement and ongoing talks.
Congolese Forces Reclaim Uvira After M23 Withdrawal Amid Ongoing Fighting
FILE - A man rides a bicycle on a street as people return to their homes in Uvira, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
GOMA, Congo (AP) — Congolese government troops and fighters from the pro-government Wazalendo militia have returned to the strategic eastern town of Uvira, army officials and local residents said Monday, roughly a month after the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel movement seized the town.
The Congolese military said in a statement it regained control of Uvira on Sunday after the rebels announced a withdrawal last month.
"The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are continuing their deployment in Uvira and surrounding areas to consolidate their positions and secure people and their property," army spokesman Mak Hazukay said in the statement.
“Since yesterday, we have welcomed our soldiers back after more than a month away,” said Alain Ramazani, a resident of Uvira, who spoke to The Associated Press by phone. He added that troops are operating in the town alongside Wazalendo fighters.
Congolese army jeeps were patrolling Uvira on Monday morning, but sporadic gunfire continued. It remained unclear whether the shots came from Wazalendo fighters, regular soldiers or armed residents in a town now awash with weapons, Ghislain Kabamba, director of the Observatory for Human Rights, Justice and Local Governance for Social Cohesion in Congo, said from Uvira.
M23 captured Uvira last month in a rapid offensive that followed the fall of the provincial capital Bukavu in February. The Congolese government said the violence has been deadly: more than 1,500 people have been killed and roughly 300,000 displaced in the recent offensive, government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said Monday.
The rebel movement later said it would withdraw from the town as a "unilateral trust-building measure" requested by the United States to help advance the peace process. Uvira's capture had given M23 a contiguous corridor of influence across eastern Congo and raised concerns about a broader regional spillover — particularly after the advance pushed the conflict to the border with neighboring Burundi, which has long maintained troops in eastern Congo.
Congo, the U.S. and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23. The U.N. says the rebel force has grown from a few hundred fighters in 2021 to roughly 6,500 today. More than 100 armed groups vie for control in mineral-rich eastern Congo, contributing to what the U.N. refugee agency calls one of the world's largest humanitarian crises; more than 7 million people have been displaced across the region.
Despite a U.S.-brokered agreement between Kinshasa and Kigali and ongoing negotiations between the rebels and the Congolese government, fighting continues on multiple fronts in eastern Congo, producing further civilian and military casualties and deepening the humanitarian emergency.
Kamale reported from Kinshasa, Congo.
Help us improve.
