Rwanda-backed M23 Rebels Say They Have Captured Key City in Eastern DRC

Rebel spokesperson claims Uvira ‘fully liberated’ as offensive continues despite Trump-brokered peace deal

Eromo Egbejule in Abidjan and agencies

Thu 11 Dec 2025 05.58 EST

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels claimed to have captured a key eastern city in Democratic Republic of the Congo as they continued their march to control more of Africa’s second largest country.

In statements in English and French on Wednesday evening, a rebel spokesperson, Lawrence Kanyuka, claimed the city of Uvira had been “fully liberated, secured and under the control of the liberation forces”.

He said on X that the rebels were committed to “protecting civilian populations and defending their rights against any aggression, regardless of its source”, urging soldiers and the Wazalendo militia allied to the Congolese military to surrender immediately. However, speaking to Reuters, Burundi’s foreign minister, Edouard Bizimana, said Uvira “has not yet fallen”.

Since Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, fell to M23 in February, the lakeside city of Uvira, strategically located between DRC and Burundi, has served as the temporary headquarters of the Kinshasa-appointed government. Its capture could give rebels a clear path to expand further into other parts of the DRC, observers say.

In recent days, the Congolese army and allied militias have reportedly evacuated heavy weapons from Uvira toward Burundi, suggesting they are bracing for the rebel takeover.

The rebel sweep has already claimed other major eastern cities this year, including Goma and Bukavu, as analysts accuse Rwanda of wanting to annex Congolese territory for itself particularly because of the abundance of minerals such as coltan and gold.

Reports from Reuters say the advance by M23 displaced about 200,000 civilians, and at least 74 people were killed, as clashes intensified around Uvira and other flashpoints. In total, more than 6 million people across North and South Kivu provinces have been displaced at various points since M23’s renewed offensive in 2021. Some of the camps for displaced people have been dismantled in a “forcible transfer” that Human Rights Watch has said is “a war crime under the Geneva conventions”.

M23, formally known as the March 23 Movement, is a rebel group formed in 2012 by former members of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), a Rwanda-backed militia in eastern DRC. Its name was a reference to a 23 March 2009 peace agreement, which the rebels claim Kinshasa violated.

Congolese authorities and UN experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, citing evidence of Rwandan troop presence, supplies, and logistical support. Rwanda continues to deny these claims, framing the allegations as politically motivated. It instead accuses the DRC of collaborating with hostile militias including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which it claims is planning a regime change in Kigali.

M23, which has become notorious for human rights abuses, initially disbanded in 2013 after a major defeat by the Congolese army and the UN peacekeeping mission (Monusco). Around that time, Barack Obama, the then US president, had told Kagame that backing the rebels was “inconsistent with desire for stability and peace”.

M23 re-emerged in 2021 and has begun taking territory at a faster pace, with fighting continuing despite peace deals signed in Doha and Washington DC this year. The advance into Uvira comes less than a week after Trump brokered a peace deal between the Congolese president, Felix Tshisekedi, and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to ease regional tensions.

“Signing an agreement and not implementing it is a humiliation for everyone, and first and foremost for President Trump,” said Bizimana, calling for sanctions against Rwanda. “It’s truly a slap in the face to the United States, a middle finger.”

On Tuesday, the Congolese foreign minister, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, told Reuters that the US should impose sanctions on Rwanda. “Washington has to restore the credibility of its process through accountability,” she said. “It is not enough to condemn. It is not enough to be preoccupied or to be concerned.”

However, her Rwandan counterpart, Olivier Nduhungirehe, has claimed Kinshasa has failed to implement peace deals or honour the ceasefire deal. Speaking to Reuters on Wednesday, he said Burundian and Congolese forces had been attacking towns near the border between both countries before the latest escalation.

“The international community has not demanded an end to these attacks prepared for months by the DRC and instigated in the past week,” he said.