Portugal Colonial - Peace deal at risk as DR Congo, Burundi slam Rwanda and M23 advances

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi accused Rwanda of "violating" the accord -- signed only last Thursday in Washington at the urging of US President Donald Trump -- as the M23 made a rapid advance to threaten the city of Uvira near the border with Burundi.

Local and military sources said hundreds of fleeing Congolese and allied Burundian soldiers have sought refuge inside Burundi as a result.

"Despite our good faith and the recently ratified agreement, it is clear that Rwanda is already violating its commitments," Tshisekedi told lawmakers, referring to attacks by Rwandan forces in several locations in South Kivu province in recent days.

"On the very day after the signing, units of the Rwandan Defence Force carried out and supported attacks with heavy weaponry," Tshisekedi said.

Burundi then denounced attacks by Rwanda into its territory, in an area bordering eastern DR Congo, as the violence spiralled.

The Burundian foreign ministry on X condemned "the recent provocation by Rwanda, which dropped bombs on Burundian territory", near Cibitoke, a town bordering Rwanda and the DRC, wounding two people, "including a 12-year-old child".

Violence in eastern DRC mineral-rich east intensified early this year when Rwanda-backed fighters from the M23 militia seized the key eastern city of Goma in January, then Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province.

Hopes have been high that peace could finally be within reach for the region, plagued by three decades of conflict, after Tshisekedi and Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame signed a deal in Washington last week at a ceremony presided over by US leader Donald Trump.

The deal includes an economic component intended to secure US supplies of critical minerals present in the region, as Washington seeks to challenge China's dominance in the sector.

Though Trump hailed the "miracle" agreement, many observers doubted it would hold.

Fresh fighting the very next day forced hundreds of people in eastern DRC to flee across the border into Rwanda, with Monday's developments only worsening the outlook.

- Mass displacements -

Since taking up arms again in 2021 the M23 has seized swathes of territory, displacing tens of thousands and leading to a spiralling humanitarian crisis.

On Sunday, UN experts said Rwanda's army and the M23 had carried out summary executions and forced mass displacements of people in the region.

The militia's push towards Uvira now sees it closing in on the last major town in South Kivu province yet to fall to the group.

Also Monday, clashes were reported near Luvungi, a settlement about 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Uvira, according to military sources. Bombings also struck Sange, between Uvira and Luvungi, also according to military sources.

While continually denying it offers the M23 military support, Rwanda insists it faces an existential threat from armed groups with links to the 1994 Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis present in eastern DRC.

- Burundian involvement -

A procession of ceasefire agreements for eastern DRC have been brokered and broken in quick succession, without putting an end to the fighting which has raged for 30 years.

At times the conflict has seen neighbouring powers including Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi wade in, either to back armed groups fighting against the DRC government or to help the government in Kinshasa.

With Uvira sitting across Lake Tanganyika from its economic capital Bujumbara, Burundi views the prospect of the city falling to Rwanda-backed troops as an existential threat.

Burundi thus deployed about 10,000 soldiers to the eastern DRC in October 2023 as part of a military cooperation agreement and military sources say reinforcements have since taken that presence as high as 20,000 men.

At least 20 Burundian soldiers have been killed since last Monday on Congolese soil, Burundian military sources said on Saturday.

Witnesses and NGOs reported Congolese civilians fleeing to Burundi to avoid the violence. Population movements toward Rwanda were also seen by AFP journalists on site.

A.P.Maia--PC