Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
03-03-2026
KINSHASA/ UVIRA: Two mass graves containing a total of at least 172 bodies have been found in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Uvira, following the withdrawal of the AFC/M23 rebel group, a senior government official said.
The rebels briefly captured Uvira, a transit hub on Lake Tanganyika, near the Burundian border, in December. They began withdrawing a week later under US pressure and the Congolese army re-entered the city last month.
AFC/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka told media he had been unaware of any mass graves during the group’s time in Uvira and accused the government of spreading propaganda to damage its reputation.
Media was not able to independently verify the circumstances of the deaths.
Jean-Jacques Purusi, the Kinshasa-appointed governor of South Kivu province, where Uvira is located, told local reporters the graves had been found in the Kilomoni and Kavimvira neighborhoods. One contained 31 bodies, the other 141, he added in comments made on Tuesday that were recorded and broadcast in the country on Thursday.
A local human rights activist, Mashauri Mwindule, told media more graves had been found in Kabimba, a village 8 km (5 miles) from Uvira.
Campaign group Human Rights Watch reported in December that M23 fighters had carried out summary executions in Uvira, with bodies found in several neighborhoods, including Kavimvira. HRW cited residents and a United Nations source. AFC/M23 did not respond to those allegations at the time but had previously accused the organization of running a “disinformation campaign” against it.
The Congolese army and allied militia groups also committed abuses before the rebels took the city and as they retreated, Human Rights Watch said.
AFC/M23 controls swathes of North and South Kivu provinces after a rapid offensive last year in which it seized the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu.
Rwanda rejects allegations from Congo, the United Nations and Western powers that it supports M23 with arms and troops.
Fighting has continued in recent weeks on several fronts in eastern Congo despite mediation efforts by several actors, including Qatar and the United States.
In December, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have said they would withdraw from the eastern Congo town of Uvira at the request of the US administration, which had criticized seizure of the town last week as a threat to mediation efforts.
The rebels entered Uvira, on the border with Burundi, less than a week after the presidents of Congo and Rwanda met with US President Donald Trump in Washington and affirmed their commitment to a peace deal known as the Washington Accords.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Rwanda’s actions in eastern Congo violated the Washington Accords and vowed to “take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept.”
Rwanda denies supporting M23 and has blamed Congolese and Burundian forces for the renewed fighting. A report by a United Nations group of experts in July said Rwanda exercised command and control over the rebels.
Withdrawal a ‘unilateral trust-building measure’
Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance of insurgents that includes M23, said in a post overnight on social media that the rebels would withdraw.
The move was a “unilateral trust-building measure in order to give the Doha peace process the maximum chance to succeed,” he said.
M23 is not party to the Washington-mediated negotiations but has been participating in separate, parallel talks with the Congolese government, hosted by Qatar. (Int’l News Desk)
