AFRICA/DR CONGO - The M23 advance continues and now threatens Uvira

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - The M23 advance in the Congolese province of South Kivu continues after the capture of Bukavu, the capital of this province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (see Fides, 17/2/2025).
With the recent capture of the cities of Kamanyola and Luvungi, the M23 militiamen have paved the way for the capture of Uvira, the second largest city in the province of South Kivu. Uvira is located on Lake Tanganyika, from which a road leads to Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi. The withdrawal of Burundian soldiers a few days after the fall of the city of Bukavu is said to have facilitated the rebels' advance towards Uvira, where tensions are increasing; the state authorities have meanwhile decided to release prisoners before the arrival of the rebels.
At least 12 people were killed in the town on February 17 in clashes between regular army soldiers (FARDC) and pro-government Wazalendo militiamen. According to Radio Okapi, citing the head of the civil society of Congolese nationalists, Serge Kigwati, the clashes began when the Wazalendo tried to disarm soldiers returning from the northern front to the south of the province. The FARDC's refusal to hand over its weapons led to gun battles between the two sides.
Meanwhile, Ugandan special forces entered Bunia, the capital of neighboring Ituri province. The Ugandan military has long had a presence in the region to conduct the joint "Shujaa" operation with the FARDC against the ADF/NALU jihadists linked to the Islamic State. However, the reinforcement of the Ugandan army in Ituri brings back memories of the joint actions of the Rwandan and Ugandan military during the two previous wars, that of 1996-97 against Mobutu's then Zaire and that of 1998 against then President Laurent-Désiré Kabila. The specter of a regional conflict still looms over the Democratic Republic of Congo.(L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 19/2/2025)

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