DR Congo says M23 withdrawal from key city a 'distraction'

KINSHASA, DR CONGO - The Congolese government on Wednesday said the M23 armed group's recent announcement that it would withdraw troops from the key eastern city of Uvira was a "distraction".

The Rwanda-backed militia seized the strategic city near the border with Burundi last Wednesday, days after the Congolese and Rwandan governments signed a peace deal -- an agreement US President Donald Trump had hailed as a "great miracle".

"The son, M23, offers itself in sacrifice before the American mediator to protect the father, Rwanda," Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said on Wednesday.

The announcement is a "non-event, a diversion, a distraction... We are waiting for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from all parts of our territory," he added.

The M23's latest advance has thrown the future of the peace process into doubt and raised fears of a wider regional war.

Its capture of Uvira -- a city of several hundred thousand people -- allowed it to control the land border with Burundi nd cut the DRC off from military support from its neighbour.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that Rwanda had clearly violated the peace agreement it signed with its neighbour on December 4, and vowed unspecified "action" in response.

A day earlier, US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz accused Rwanda of "leading the region toward more instability and toward war".

The leader of the M23's political branch announced Tuesday in a statement that the group would "unilaterally withdraw its forces from the city of Uvira, as requested by the US mediators".

M23 fighters were still present in Uvira on Wednesday, according to residents contacted by AFP.

The DRC's mineral-rich east has been ravaged by three decades of conflict. Since taking up arms again in 2021, the M23 has seized swathes of territory, leading to a spiralling humanitarian crisis.

While Kigali has never explicitly acknowledged backing the armed group, Washington has directly blamed Rwanda for the M23's capture of Uvira.

Muyaya accused Rwandan President Paul Kagame of seeking to "entrench his control over this part of our country through violence," arguing these actions "worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation".

At least 85,000 refugees have fled into Burundi since the advance, with the numbers rising daily, Burundian officials said Tuesday.