Refugees describe neighbours killed as M23 cements control of key DRC city

Congolese refugees person recounted harrowing scenes of decease and household separation arsenic they fled intensified warring successful the eastbound Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), wherever Rwanda-backed M23 rebels captured a strategical metropolis contempt a caller United States-brokered bid agreement.

M23 has cemented power implicit Uvira, a cardinal lakeside metropolis successful DRC’s South Kivu state that it seized connected Wednesday, contempt a bid accord that President Donald Trump had called “historic” erstwhile signed successful Washington conscionable 1 week earlier.

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Al Jazeera, which is the archetypal planetary broadcaster to summation entree to the metropolis since M23’s takeover, saw residents tentatively returning location aft days of violence, amid a dense beingness of rebel fighters connected Friday.

The time before, M23 fighters combed the streets to flush retired remaining Congolese forces and allied militias – known arsenic “Wazalendo” – aft taking implicit cardinal parts of the city.

Meanwhile, astatine Nyarushishi exile campy successful Rwanda’s Rusizi district, Akilimali Mirindi told the AFP quality bureau she fled South Kivu with conscionable 3 of her 10 children aft bombs destroyed her location adjacent the border.

“I don’t cognize what happened to the different seven, oregon their father,” the 40-year-old said, describing corpses scattered on flight routes arsenic astir 1,000 radical reached the campy pursuing renewed clashes this month.

Regional officials said much than 413 civilians person been killed since warring escalated successful aboriginal December, with women and children among the dead.

The violative has displaced astir 200,000 people, and threatens to resistance neighbouring Burundi deeper into a struggle that has already uprooted much than 7 cardinal crossed eastbound DRC, according to United Nations figures.

Uvira sits connected Lake Tanganyika’s bluish shore, straight crossed from Burundi’s largest city, and serves arsenic South Kivu’s interim authorities office aft M23 seized the provincial capital, Bukavu, successful February.

Al Jazeera analogous Alain Uaykani, who gained entree to the metropolis connected Friday, reported a tenuous calm and the dense beingness of M23 soldiers but described harrowing scenes connected the travel there.

“Here successful Uvira, we person seen antithetic groups of the Red Cross with their equipment, collecting bodies, and conducting burials crossed the road,” Uaykani said.

He added that the Al Jazeera unit saw abandoned subject trucks destroyed on the roadworthy to Uvira, and the remains of radical who were killed.

Residents who fled Uvira told AFP of bombardment from aggregate directions arsenic M23 fighters battled Congolese forces and their Burundian allies astir the larboard city.

“Bombs were raining down connected america from antithetic directions,” Thomas Mutabazi, 67, told AFP astatine the exile camp. “We had to permission our families and our fields.”

‘Even children were dying’

Refugee Jeanette Bendereza had already escaped to Burundi erstwhile this twelvemonth during an earlier M23 propulsion successful February, lone to instrumentality to DRC erstwhile authorities said bid had been restored. “We recovered M23 successful charge,” she said.

When unit erupted again, she ran with 4 children arsenic “bombs started falling from Burundian fighters”, losing her telephone and interaction with her hubby successful the chaos.

Another refugee, Olinabangi Kayibanda, witnessed a large neighbour killed alongside her 2 children erstwhile their location was bombed. “Even children were dying, truthful we decided to flee,” the 56-year-old told an AFP reporter.

M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka announced connected Wednesday that Uvira had been “fully liberated” and urged residents to instrumentality home.

Fighting had already resumed adjacent arsenic Trump past week hosted Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame astatine a wide attended signing ceremony.

The December 4 Washington agreement obliged Rwanda to cease supporting equipped groups, though the M23 was not enactment to those negotiations and is alternatively progressive successful abstracted Qatar-mediated talks with Kinshasa.

DRC’s authorities accused Rwanda of deploying peculiar forces and overseas mercenaries to Uvira “in wide violation” of some the Washington and earlier Doha agreements.

The US embassy successful Kinshasa urged Rwandan forces to withdraw, portion Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner called for Washington to enforce sanctions, saying condemnation unsocial was insufficient.

Rwanda denies backing M23 and blames Congolese and Burundian forces for ceasefire violations.

In a connection connected Thursday, President Kagame claimed that much than 20,000 Burundian soldiers were operating crossed aggregate Congolese locations and accused them of shelling civilians successful Minembwe.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the escalation “increases the hazard of a broader determination conflagration” and called for an contiguous cessation of hostilities.