Fighting in eastern Congo has intensified just days after the presidents of Congo and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in Washington, D.C., residents said on Friday, December 5.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame met U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, December 4 to sign a peace deal aimed at ending the conflict between Congo’s army and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group.
The agreement builds on a framework that was first reached in June after months of mediation led by the United States, the African Union, and Qatar. The White House called the new pact a “historic” step.
But people living near the front line say the situation is getting worse, not better. Residents of Kamanyola — a town near the borders of Rwanda and Burundi, reported heavy shelling in recent days.
“People are fleeing the neighborhoods where the bombs are falling and moving to safer areas. Others are escaping toward Rwanda,” Urbain Dunia, a Kamanyola resident, told The Associated Press by phone.
Another resident, Samson Alimasi, said the new agreement has brought no relief. “We heard the deal was signed yesterday, but we don’t see any positive impact. We only see bombs falling and don’t even know which side they are coming from,” he said.
M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka accused the Congolese army of violating the ceasefire. “It’s the governing coalition that continues to bomb us. This regime never respects agreements. What happened in Washington doesn’t concern us,” he said.
M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa claimed on X that the recent shelling came from Burundian army positions across the border. The Associated Press was unable to independently verify that claim.
The Congolese army in South Kivu, where Kamanyola is located, blamed M23 for the escalation and accused the group of bombing schools.
Clashes continue to erupt across eastern Congo, with both sides repeatedly accusing each other of breaking the ceasefire agreed earlier this year.
Earlier in 2024, M23 captured Goma and Bukavu — two major cities in eastern Congo — marking a sharp escalation in the conflict.
M23 is one of nearly 100 armed groups active in mineral-rich eastern Congo. The region has been destabilized for decades by fighting that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. More than 7 million people have been displaced, according to officials.
U.N. experts say M23 is supported by roughly 4,000 Rwandan troops, and the rebels have at times threatened to march toward Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, located about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the west.