Washington [US], December 13 : The United States has accused Rwanda of breaching a recently signed peace agreement after fresh fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warning that Kigali's actions amount to a "clear violation" of the deal.
In a post on X on Saturday, Rubio said, "The United States will take action to ensure promises made to the president are kept," underscoring Washington's growing concern over the renewed offensive in South Kivu province.
https://x.com/SecRubio/status/1999829630618919050?s=20
The warning comes as a fragile calm has returned to the eastern DRC city of Uvira following its capture by M23 rebels earlier this week.
According to Al Jazeera, residents have cautiously begun emerging from their homes after days of intense fighting that saw the Rwanda-backed group seize control of the strategic port city on Lake Tanganyika.
The fall of Uvira threatens to derail a US-brokered peace agreement signed last week between Congolese and Rwandan leaders under the oversight of President Donald Trump.
Washington accused Rwanda on Friday of igniting the latest offensive, as violence spread between the cities of Bukavu and Uvira, both now under M23 control.
Regional authorities said at least 400 civilians, including children, were killed during the fighting in South Kivu.
Al Jazeera reported that Uvira, located opposite Burundi's largest city Bujumbura, remains tense despite the lull in clashes.
An uneasy calm has settled over the city, with government forces and allied militias known as "Wazalendo" reported to have begun fleeing even before M23 fighters entered.
While residents who had fled are gradually returning, most shops and businesses remain closed.
"People are coming out, they feel the fear is behind them," one resident said, adding that the situation remains fragile, with signs of heavy combat still visible across Uvira.
Residents echoed the cautious mood.
Bienvenue Mwatumabire said he was at work when fighting erupted between rebels and government forces and gunfire was heard from a nearby village, but added that "today we have noticed things are getting back to normal."
Another resident, Baoleze Beinfait, said people were not being harassed by the rebels, but warned, "We will see how things are in the coming days," according to Al Jazeera.
M23's spokesperson defended the offensive, claiming the group had "liberated" Uvira from what he described as "terrorist forces."
The rebels say they are protecting ethnic Tutsi communities in eastern DRC, where fighting has intensified since earlier this year.
Local United Nations partners said the offensive, which began on December 2, has displaced more than 200,000 people across South Kivu province.
Provincial officials accused Rwandan special forces and foreign mercenaries of operating in Uvira "in clear violation" of both the Washington accords and earlier ceasefire agreements reached in Doha.
At the UN Security Council on Friday, US Ambassador Mike Waltz accused Rwanda of steering the region "towards increased instability and war," warning that Washington would hold spoilers accountable.
Waltz said Rwanda has exercised strategic control over M23 since its re-emergence in 2021, with between 5,000 and 7,000 Rwandan troops fighting alongside the rebels in Congo as of early December.
"Kigali has been intimately involved in planning and executing the war in eastern DRC," Waltz told the Security Council, referring to Rwanda's capital.
Rwanda's UN ambassador rejected the allegations, accusing the DRC of violating the ceasefire.
Kigali acknowledges deploying troops in eastern Congo but says they are there to protect its security, particularly from Hutu militia groups that fled into DRC after Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
The capture of Uvira has also raised alarm in neighbouring Burundi, which has deployed forces to the region.
Burundi's UN ambassador warned that "restraint has its limits," saying continued attacks could lead to direct confrontation.
More than 30,000 refugees have crossed into Burundi in recent days, Al Jazeera reported.
The DRC's foreign minister urged the Security Council to hold Rwanda accountable, saying "impunity has gone on for far too long."
A report by the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats project said Rwanda provided significant backing to M23's Uvira operation, calling it the group's most consequential offensive since March.
UN experts briefing the Security Council noted that civilians in eastern DRC are not benefitting from the agreements negotiated between Kinshasa and Kigali, Al Jazeera reported.
More than 100 armed groups continue to fight for control of mineral-rich areas near the Rwandan border, fuelling one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, with over seven million people displaced.
The M23 group is not a party to the Washington-mediated talks between DRC and Rwanda and is instead engaged in separate negotiations with the Congolese government hosted by Qatar.