M23 rebels take control of strategic Congo town as peace deal crumbles

SOUTH KIVU,  DR Congo 

The United States on Friday accused Rwanda of violating a peace deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) saying Kigali was leading the Great Lakes region towards war.

Signed just over a week ago, the agreement was hailed by US President Donald Trump as "historic", and raised hopes for an end to the decades-long conflict.

But on Wednesday evening, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels claimed to have captured the strategic city of Uvira, one of the few remaining army strongholds in the eastern DRC.

United Nations experts have previously accused Kigali of having "de facto control" of the rebel force's operations.

The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said Washington was “incredibly disappointed” with the renewed outbreak of violence and warned it would hold “spoilers to peace” to account.

The rebels are not signatories to US President Donald Trump's deal and are taking part in a parallel peace process led by Washington’s ally, Qatar.

Bertrand Bisimwa, the Deputy Coordinator of the AFC-M23 rebel alliance, said Friday that the Washington Accord related to relations between Congo and Rwanda.

He added that it had little impact on the conflict inside the country which was being addressed in talks in Qatar's capital, Doha.

"It has never changed the reality on the ground, in the sense that the war that we are fighting with Kinshasa since the beginning of the conflict has never stopped, regardless of the ceasefire agreements we have signed with them," he said.

Bisimwa said the rebel group is looking to create a federal system in the DRC.

“When we say federalism, we want to establish a new balance between the provinces and the central government,” he said.

“A balance that will guarantee a symmetrical system in which we give and receive. That is what we want. It is not about Balkanization.”

Kinshasa and Kigali have blamed one another for the violation of the Washington Accord which aimed to end the conflict.

More than 100 armed groups are vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, most prominently M23.

It has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with the UN refugee agency saying more than 7 million people have been displaced by the fighting.