KIGALI, Rwanda
Burundian Foreign Minister Edouard Bizimana expressed doubt Tuesday about an announcement by the M23 rebel group indicating it agreed to withdraw forces from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s recently captured city of Uvira.
His remarks came hours after the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC/M23), a rebel alliance in eastern Congo which includes M23 rebels, said it decided to withdraw from Uvira, as demanded by the US.
In a post on US social media company X, Bizimana described the withdrawal announcement as another “sheer lie” designed to “mislead international opinion,” the US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and “all peace-loving people.”
Bizimana claimed Rwandan forces and the AFC/M23 were yet to withdraw from Uvira, adding that everything “indicates that Rwanda is simply seeking to ease international pressure.”
There was no immediate reaction from Rwanda or the M23.
But the rebels’ decision was announced days after they seized Uvira, a key commercial hub close to the border with Burundi, which served as the temporary capital of South Kivu province.
In a statement, the group said the decision was taken as a trust-building measure to give the Doha peace process, mediated by Qatar, the maximum chance to succeed in providing lasting solutions to the conflict.
“AFC/M23 will unilaterally withdraw its forces from the city of Uvira as requested by the United States mediation,” said Cornelle Nangaa, the group’s coordinator.
The group urged guarantors of the peace process to “establish adequate measures for the management of the city, including its demilitarization, the protection of its population and infrastructure, and the monitoring of the ceasefire through the deployment of a neutral force.”
The recent clashes between the rebels and government forces led to a major humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 200,000 people.
The fighting intensified against a backdrop of a peace agreement signed Dec. 4 by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame to put an end to the fighting in eastern Congo.
The Congolese government attributed the violence in Uvira to a “widespread offensive launched in recent days by the Rwandan Defense Forces” along the Kamanyola-Uvira axis.
But Rwanda, in turn, accused Congolese and Burundian armies of violating the ceasefire.
Last Saturday, Rubio accused Rwanda of violating the peace agreement brokered by Trump, adding that the “US will take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept.”
The M23 rebel group, supported by neighboring Rwanda, according to the UN and Western nations, controls significant territory in eastern Congo, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu, which were seized early this year.
