UPDATE - Over 700 people fleeing fighting in DR Congo seek refuge in Rwanda

ADDS INFORMATION ON BURUNDI, M23 COUNTER-ACCUSATIONS OF CROSS-BORDER BOMBINGS; REVISES DECK; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – More than 700 Congolese nationals have crossed into neighboring Rwanda, fleeing new clashes between the M23 rebel group and government forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said Friday, a day after the countries’ leaders signed a US-brokered peace deal aimed at ending the decades-long conflict.

Women and children constitute the majority of the refugees, Phanuel Sindayiheba, a local government official in western Rwanda’s Rusizi district bordering Congo told reporters.

He said the refugees were temporarily being hosted at a transit center in the district and provided with basic items, including food and bedding materials.

Footage on social media showed columns of displaced people moving toward Rwanda through the Congo-Rwanda Bugarama-Kamanyola border post — some carrying their belongings and livestock.

Local media reported Friday that fighting intensified in the morning near the town of Luvungi in South Kivu province in eastern Congo between Congolese forces and M23 rebels, causing a massive displacement of residents.

According to Une, a local news portal, the rebels launched coordinated attacks against positions of government forces at dawn, raising concerns just a day after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame signed a peace agreement in Washington, brokered by the US.

Lawrence Kanyuka, an M23 spokesperson, claimed in a post on American social media company X that Congolese forces and their allies launched “attacks on densely populated areas in North Kivu and South Kivu, using fighter jets, drones, and heavy artillery.”

He also claimed that two bombs launched from neighboring Burundi on Thursday evening struck close to the town of Kamanyola, killing four people and seriously injuring two.

Rwanda is accused of backing M23 rebels, a claim Kigali has consistently denied.

On Thursday, during the signing ceremony, Trump said: “Today, we commit to stopping decades of violence and bloodshed, and to begin a new era of harmony and cooperation between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.”

Kagame said the US-led peace deal provides “everything needed to end this conflict once and for all.”

Tshisekedi said the Washington accords, which aim for peace and prosperity, “must be for our peoples, a symbol of an irreversible commitment to turn (the) page of confrontations and to open a new era of cooperation and sustainable peace throughout the region.”

Between July and October, more than 123,600 people were displaced in Congo due to armed attacks, clashes, land conflicts, and natural hazards, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs data.

-UN calls for halt to attacks on schools

Separately, UNICEF on Friday called on warring parties to immediately halt attacks on schools after seven children were allegedly killed and others injured in an assault on three schools in the South Kivu province.

"We are deeply troubled by reports that children have allegedly been killed after bombs hit their schools in South Kivu. Attacks on schools are a grave violation against children. Schools must remain protected spaces and sanctuaries of peace where children are safe from harm," said John Agbor, UNICEF representative in Congo.

-Burundi, M23 rebels accuse each other of cross-border bombing

The renewed fighting this week is said to have spilled over to neighboring Burundi.

Burundi’s Foreign Minister Edouard Bizimana on Friday accused M23 rebels of bombing their territory.

On X, Bizimana said that on Thursday, “AFC/M23 terrorists supported by Rwanda dropped a bomb on Burundian territory.”

“Such a provocation is unacceptable and appropriate actions will be taken to protect the Burundian population,” he said.

Local sources said bombs fired from Congo landed in Burundi’s province of Cibitoke.

In response, however, M23 spokesperson Kanyuka said that for three days bombs were launched into Congolese villages from Burundi, killing children, women and injuring several.

“The provisional death toll stands at 23 and several injuries,” he said in a statement.