The AFC/M23 rebel movement on Wednesday, December 10, announced it had taken control of Uvira, a strategic border city that has served for months as a key stronghold for the Congolese government coalition.
Rebel forces entered Uvira on Tuesday after more than a week of intense clashes with the coalition, which comprises the Congolese army (FARDC), Burundian troops, local militia groups known as Wazalendo, the FDLR militia, linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and foreign fighters.
Despite the fighting in surrounding areas, no gunfire was reported inside Uvira, which sits just 27 kilometres from the Burundi border.
Uvira becomes the third major urban centre to fall under AFC/M23 control this year, following the capture of Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu.
Government forces and their allies were seen retreating from areas around the city on Monday and Tuesday. The South Kivu provincial administration had earlier relocated to Uvira after Bukavu fell in February.
“Today, the threat has been lifted, and we confirm that the city of Uvira is now liberated,” AFC/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement on Wednesday.
He accused the government coalition of perpetrating hate speech and attacks targeting civilians, particularly in areas previously under its control.
Kanyuka urged residents to resume their normal routines, assuring them of the rebels’ protection, and called on refugees and internally displaced people to return home.
Videos circulating on social media showed M23 fighters patrolling the streets of Uvira, while earlier reports indicated the absence of government troops in the city centre.
With the fall of Uvira, the rebels now control more than 400 kilometres of the DR Congo’s eastern border, from Bunagana at the Ugandan frontier to the Goma and Bukavu borders with Rwanda, extending south to the shores of Lake Tanganyika, shared by DR Congo, Burundi, and Tanzania.
Recent fighting along this axis saw the Burundian army increasingly take the lead in coalition operations, including launching airstrikes from Burundian territory during battles in Kamanyola, a border town with Rwanda.
The clashes, which began in early December, resulted in civilian deaths and displaced thousands. Hundreds fled into Rwanda last week, recounting harrowing abuses allegedly committed by coalition forces.
After securing Kamanyola on Saturday, AFC/M23 fighters advanced southwards, capturing a string of towns in the Ruzizi Plain, including Luvungi, Luberizi, Sange, and Kiliba, the last major settlement before Uvira.
The government coalition has in recent months faced growing accusations of atrocities against civilians, particularly those from Rwandophone communities in and around Uvira.
