M23 Rebels to Retreat from Uvira in Response to US Request

Wed Dec 17 2025 01:59:09 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a significant diplomatic development, the M23 rebel group has agreed to withdraw from the critical city of Uvira in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo at the behest of the United States. The withdrawal aims to support peace efforts and stabilize the region amid ongoing conflict and humanitarian crises.

The M23 rebel leader Corneille Nangaa announced the group's plan to pull out from Uvira following US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's declaration that their capture of the city violated peace agreements. The move is seen as a trust-building measure to enhance the Qatar-led peace process while addressing accusations of Rwandan support for the rebels.

A rebel leader in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo says his fighters will withdraw from a key city at the request of the US.

Corneille Nangaa's statement came days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the capture of Uvira by rebel forces violated a peace deal, and the US would take action to ensure promises made to the President [Donald Trump] are kept.

Nangaa said that rebel forces would pull out of the city as a trust-building measure.

The US accuses Rwanda of backing the rebels. Rwanda denies the allegation, but its President, Paul Kagame, signed a peace accord on December 4 with his DR Congo counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi, at a ceremony in Washington hosted by Trump.

The US president hailed the deal as historic and a great day for Africa.

The rebels were not signatories to it - and have been taking part in a parallel peace process led by Qatar, a US ally that has strong ties with Rwanda.

Nangaa is the coordinator of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), a coalition of rebel groups. It includes the M23, the most powerful force that European countries, along with the US, say is backed by Rwanda.

DR Congo's army is supported by troops from neighbouring Burundi.

The M23's capture of Uvira was a major blow to them, as the city is only 27km (17 miles) from Burundi's economic capital, Bujumbura, on the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika.

AFC/M23 will unilaterally withdraw its forces from the city of Uvira as requested by the United States mediation, Nangaa said in a statement, adding that this was being done to give the Qatar-brokered peace process the maximum chance to succeed.

He did not indicate when the withdrawal would take place, but called for the deployment of a neutral force to monitor a ceasefire and to prevent DR Congo's army from regaining control of territory it had lost.

About 200,000 people have fled their homes in eastern DR Congo since the latest round of fighting started early this month, the UN says.

At least 74 people, mostly civilians, had been killed, and 83 others had been admitted to hospital with wounds, it added.

The conflict has caused a humanitarian crisis in eastern DR Congo and has persisted for over 30 years, with various peace initiatives failing.

The Trump administration hopes this peace initiative will pave the way for US investments in the resource-rich region, which is estimated to contain $25 trillion in mineral reserves.