Fighting has flared up again in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between the M23 rebel group and government forces, a day after United States President Donald Trump hosted DRC and Rwanda leaders in Washington as they signed a peace deal aimed at ending decades-long conflict in the country.
The warring sides blamed each other for Friday’s renewed fighting, with the M23 group saying in a statement that 23 people were killed and several others wounded in bombardments by the DRC’s army.
M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said in a post on X that Congolese forces and allies launched “attacks on densely populated areas in North Kivu and South Kivu, using fighter jets, drones, and heavy artillery”.
He claimed that two bombs launched from Burundi on Thursday evening struck close to Kamanyola town, killing four people and seriously injuring two.
The Rwandan-backed group seized eastern DRC’s two largest cities, Goma and Bukavu, earlier this year and is not bound by the US peace deal.
A senior M23 official, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media, told the Reuters news agency that rebel forces had retaken the town of Luberika and shot down a Congolese army drone.
Meanwhile, a DRC army spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that clashes were taking place along the Kaziba, Katogota and Rurambo axis in South Kivu province.
“There is population displacement in Luvungi due to Rwandan Defence Force bombardment. They are bombing blindly,” he said.
Rwanda’s army and government spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.
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