The Trump administration is not satisfied with the Rwanda-backed M23’s withdrawal from a strategic town in eastern Congo, a senior U.S. official told Reuters, as residents reported persistent clashes nearby on Tuesday.
M23 seized the town of Uvira, near the border with Burundi, on December 10, days after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan leader Paul Kagame met President Donald Trump in Washington and reaffirmed a U.S.-brokered peace deal.
The capture marked the rebels’ biggest advance in months, fueling fears of regional spillover from fighting that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands since January.
After U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Rwanda’s actions in mineral-rich eastern Congo were violating the peace deal, M23 last week pledged to withdraw to give peace talks a chance.
While most M23 combatants have left Uvira itself, Washington is “not satisfied” that the group has fully withdrawn, the senior U.S. official said.
WAR STRAINS PUBLIC FINANCES, IMF SAYS
The recent fighting has sent over 84,000 refugees into Burundi this month, overwhelming its capacity, the U.N. refugee agency said last week.
About 500,000 people have been displaced in South Kivu province since early December, and the World Food Programme is scaling up aid for 210,000 vulnerable people.
M23’s lightning advance this year in North and South Kivu has cost Congo 0.4% of GDP, while exceptional security spending nears $3 billion, it will have an impact on growth and the future of the country,” he said.
Reporting by Giulia Paravicini, Sonia Rolley and Congo newsroom; Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Ros Russell
