Fighting in the eastern part of Congo reportedly flared on Friday within hours of the signing of a peace deal by the leaders of Congo and Rwanda in Washington, Reuters reported. Read More of the deal at Washington.
The peace deal, which was hailed by the host president Trump as historic, was aimed at ending decades-long fighting in the mineral-rich region.
Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame on Thursday reaffirmed commitments to a U.S.-brokered deal reached in June to stabilise the vast country and open the way for more Western mining investment.
“We’re settling a war that’s been going on for decades,” said Trump, whose administration has intervened in a string of conflicts around the world to burnish his credentials as a peacemaker and advance U.S. business interests.
On the ground, however, fierce fighting continued, with the warring sides blaming one another.
The Rwandan-backed AFC/M23 rebel group, which seized the two largest cities in eastern Congo earlier this year and is not bound by the Washington agreement, said forces loyal to the government were conducting widespread attacks.
A Congolese army spokesman said clashes were ongoing and Rwandan forces were bombing.
Analysts say U.S. diplomacy paused the escalation of fighting in eastern Congo but failed to resolve core issues, with neither Congo nor Rwanda fulfilling pledges made in the June agreement.
Videos shared online on Friday showed dozens of displaced families fleeing on foot with their belongings and livestock near the town of Luvungi in South Kivu province in eastern Congo. Reuters was not immediately able to authenticate them.
“Numerous homes have been destroyed, and women as well as children have tragically lost their lives,” wrote Lawrence Kanyuka, the spokesperson for AFC/M23, which is not bound by the terms of any Congo-Rwanda agreement.
Forces loyal to the Congolese government “continued their relentless attacks on densely populated areas of North Kivu and South Kivu, using fighter jets, drones and heavy artillery,” he wrote on X, without giving an overall casualty toll.
A Congo army spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that clashes were ongoing Friday along the Kaziba, Katogota, and Rurambo axis in the 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 spokespersons were not immediately available for comment.
A senior AFC/M23 official told Reuters rebel forces had retaken the town of Luberika and shot down a Congolese army drone. He requested anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
“The war continues on the ground and has no connection with the signing of the agreement that took place yesterday in Washington,” he said.
The fighting in eastern Congo traces back to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, when nearly a million Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed by Hutu groups.
