Uncertainty in Uvira as M23 rebels again announce withdrawal from eastern DRC city

Residents uncertain about future as M23 rebels again announce withdrawal from Uvira, even as fighting continues in the area.

Armed AFC/M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has announced that it will place the city of Uvira under the responsibility of the international community.

In a statement, the group said it would withdraw from all security responsibilities and called for the deployment of a neutral force to ensure the protection of civilians and strategic infrastructure.

Residents of Uvira received this announcement with caution and concern.

"We heard that they are going to leave, but we don’t know if they have really left or if they will leave, because this is not the first time they announce it; this will be the second time," Mukuninwa Assumani Ruffin told Africanews.

said the situation is still uncertain: "What worries us here in Uvira is our security," said Muzingwa Ramazani. "How are we going to live after the M23 leaves?"

The security situation remains worrying. Clashes between Wazalendo fighters and the M23 have been reported around Uvira, despite the withdrawal announcement. According to local sources, the armed group took control of the strategic town of Lemera in the Uvira territory on Thursday, despite repeated calls for a ceasefire.

Ghislain Baraiga Kabamba, is a civil society actor in Uvira: "They are still fighting, especially in the south-south parts of Uvira, in Makobola and other localities, and this worries us. But if they do withdraw, it will be a good thing."

Ongoing security threats

In a letter sent to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday, M23 warned of persistent security threats.

Its political coordinator, Corneille Nangaa, cited actors not signatory to the peace agreements, including the Burundian army, the FDLR, and Wazalendo militias supporting the FARDC. Analysts are calling on the international community to take stronger measures to enforce commitments on the ground.

"The American mediation, which obtained the withdrawal of AFC/M23 from the city of Uvira, did not take steps to verify not only the withdrawal of the M23 from Uvira, but also the transitional period," Hubert Masomeko, independent analyst and researcher at the Center for Research on Democracy and Development in Africa (CREDDA) told Africanews.

"Security issues regarding the city of Uvira were unfortunately not taken into account by the mediation."

For now, neither the Congolese government nor the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, has officially responded to the latest statements from AFC/M23.

Their silence leaves civilians uncertain about the future of the peace process and the guarantee of their immediate safety.