SOUTH KIVU.Congo’s army has accused Rwanda and M23/AFC rebels of intensifying cross-border artillery bombardments on populated areas of South Kivu, just two days after Kinshasa and Kigali signed a landmark peace accord in Washington aimed at ending decades of conflict in the region.
In a sharply worded statement, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) said shells fired from the Rwandan town of Bugarama had struck communities along the Kamanyola–Uvira axis in the Ruzizi plain, killing civilians and destroying schools, health centres and homes.
“The situation is grave and the crime is odious,” the communiqué issued late Saturday said.
“Several Congolese civilians have been mowed down and count among the victims of Rwandan barbarism and the criminal appetite of the AFC/M23.”
Congo’s military described the attacks as war crimes and crimes against humanity, accusing Kigali of “mocking the international community” and attempting to sabotage the Washington Peace Accords, which were signed on Thursday before U.S. President Donald Trump and regional leaders.
Rwanda has repeatedly denied supporting M23 or conducting attacks inside Congo, though Kinshasa and U.N. experts have long asserted otherwise.
Advance toward Uvira
The latest bombardments come as M23/AFC fighters, backed by Rwanda according to Congolese and U.N. reports, have already captured Kamanyola and are advancing on the strategic city of Uvira, a vital commercial corridor on the Burundian border.
The rebel push toward Uvira — a gateway to both South Kivu and the northern Burundian frontier — has raised fears of a wider regional war, as Burundian troops deployed alongside the FARDC are now positioned directly in the insurgents’ path.
FARDC officers also confirmed the fall of Luvungi, another key town along the axis.
“The enemy is already in Luvungi,” an army spokesperson said. “In this area, there was the population and we could not fight. We received the order to protect civilians, and we were forced to withdraw.”
The FARDC statement said the bombardments and rapid rebel advances demonstrated Rwanda’s “manifest determination to undermine any peace process, despite commitments freely undertaken before witnesses” in Washington.
The renewed violence threatens to overshadow the Washington agreement, which commits both countries to dismantle armed groups, restore state authority in eastern Congo and pursue a new regional economic integration framework.
Hours after signing the accord, President Félix Tshisekedi warned that peace would depend on halting the activities of “negative forces” and ending foreign interference.
The FARDC said it remained committed to protecting civilians and resisting what it called Rwanda’s “bellicose and criminal ambitions.”
“They reassure the population of their strong determination to defeat these aims… and to ensure the protection of civilians, whatever the cost,” FARDC spokesperson General Sylvain Ekenge Bomusa Efomi said.
The escalating clashes and territorial losses will severely test the viability of the Washington Peace Accords before implementation has even begun.