The M23 rebel group continued its advance in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, despite warnings from the United States of potential action over its Rwandan backers’ violation of a US-brokered peace deal.
M23 Advances Despite US Warnings
Top US diplomat Marco Rubio stated Saturday that Rwanda had breached the agreement signed with the DRC in Washington last week, the latest effort to resolve the decades-long conflict in the mineral-rich eastern Congo.
The deal, which US President Donald Trump described as a “miracle,” was signed on December 4. Shortly after, the Rwandan-backed M23 seized the key frontier city of Uvira along the border with Burundi, raising concerns about the conflict escalating into a regional war.
The capture of Uvira, a city of several hundred thousand people, gives the M23 control of the land border with Burundi and cuts off the DRC from potential military support from its neighbor.
“Rwanda’s actions in eastern DRC are a clear violation of the Washington Accords signed by President Trump, and the United States will take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept,” Secretary of State Rubio wrote on X, without providing further details.
Trump has repeatedly highlighted the DRC conflict as one of several wars he helped end since returning to the White House.
Following the seizure of Uvira on Wednesday, the M23 continued its westward march, capturing the administrative center of Kipupu in the Itombwe sector on Saturday after the withdrawal of Burundian troops.
Burundi, which shares a border with Uvira across Lake Tanganyika, had long feared the city falling to the M23 and deployed thousands of troops to support the DRC government in fighting the armed group.
The takeover of Uvira was part of an offensive launched at the beginning of December in South Kivu province, following the earlier capture of Goma and Bukavu, other major cities in the DRC’s resource-rich east.
South of Kipupu, the M23 was engaged in clashes on Saturday with local militia loyal to the Congolese government on the plateaus overlooking Fizi and Baraka, approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Uvira.
Both towns now face the possibility of the M23 joining forces with its allies in the Twirwaneho militia as the armed group continues its advance through South Kivu province.
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