Kinshasa – The Congolese army said Monday it had retaken control of the strategic city of Uvira after the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group withdrew.
On December 17, the armed group said it was pulling its troops out of Uvira, claiming to be responding to a US request, but M23 police and military personnel remained in the lakeside city.
On Thursday, the M23 said it planned to withdraw its remaining forces from Uvira and declared its intention to place the city “under the full and entire responsibility of the international community”.
Local sources then reported troop movements on Saturday as M23 units left the city.
On Sunday morning, “wazalendo” forces — the local pro‑Kinshasa militias — entered southern districts of Uvira, followed later in the day by elements of the Congolese special forces, according to local and government sources.
Congolese army (FARDC) spokesman Mak Hazukay announced the city’s full recapture in a statement on Monday.
Residents cheered the arriving fighters as sporadic gunfire echoed through the city. Their arrival was also marred by looting of shops and homes, according to several local sources.
“About 20 looting civilians were arrested,” Hazukay said.
The FARDC “continue their deployment in the city of Uvira and its surroundings in order to consolidate their positions”, the statement added.
On Sunday, the governor of the surrounding South Kivu province, Jean Jacques Purusi, said M23 troops had “positioned themselves on the heights” above Uvira “to point their weapons at the city”, as well as in nearby localities, according to a message circulated to the media.
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Source: AFP
