M23 Terrorizes East DR Congo As U.S Vows Severe Action Against Rwanda
On Saturday, the M23 pressed on in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, despite Washington’s pledge to take action over its Rwandan backers’ violation of a US-brokered peace accord.
Top US diplomat Marco Rubio stated on Saturday that Rwanda has plainly violated the agreement it signed with the DRC in Washington last week.
Rwanda's actions in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo are a clear violation of the Washington agreements signed by President Trump, and the United States will take measures to ensure the fulfillment of the promises made to the president"
— Sprinter Press (@SprinterPress) December 13, 2025
Marco Rubio commented on the… pic.twitter.com/Uflw6FiKMm
The agreement is the latest attempt to put an end to the grinding three-decade-long conflict that has upended Congo’s mineral-rich east.
US President Donald Trump hailed the agreement as a “miracle” when it was signed on December 4.
Just a few days later, the Rwandan-backed M23 took the crucial frontier city of Uvira on the Burundi border, heightening concerns that the conflict may escalate into a regional war.
The M23’s seizure of Uvira, a metropolis of several hundred thousand people, gives them control of the land border with Burundi, cutting the DRC off from military backing from its neighbour.
“Rwanda’s actions in eastern DRC are a clear violation of the Washington Accords signed by President Trump, and the United States will take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept,” Secretary of State Rubio wrote on X, without elaborating.
Trump has regularly cited the DRC conflict as one of numerous battles he helped resolve since returning to the White House.
However, after overtaking Uvira on Wednesday, the M23 marched westward, taking the Itombwe sector’s administrative center of Kipupu without resistance on Saturday following the evacuation of Burundian troops.
#TRANSCRIBED The U.S. warned that it is going to use “tools at its disposal” to hold Rwanda accountable, a "spoilers to peace”, referring to both Rwanda and M23.
— XTRAfrica Media Group (@xtr_africa) December 12, 2025
READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE UNITED STATES' DURING TODAY'S UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING
The United States is… pic.twitter.com/ML9F7ObkEi
Burundi had long worried that Uvira, located across Lake Tanganyika from its commercial hub Bujumbura, would fall to the M23.
They sent thousands of troops to assist the DRC government in its war against the armed groups.
Their takeover of Uvira was part of an offensive launched at the beginning of December in South Kivu province.
It follows its capture earlier this year of Goma and Bukavu, other major cities in the DRC’s resource-rich east.
South of Kipupu, the M23 was also locked in clashes on Saturday with local militia loyal to the Congolese government on the plateaus overlooking Fizi and Baraka, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Uvira.
Both towns now face the prospect of the M23 joining forces with its allies in the Twirwaneho militia as the armed group continues its advance through South Kivu province.
Several thousand Burundian soldiers were trapped on the plateaus after the M23 took Uvira and were ordered on Wednesday to fall back towards the city of Baraka, according to Burundian military sources.
Twirwaneho fighters are harassing the Burundian soldiers as they retreat along the region’s poor mountain roads, with no access to ammunition restocks.
The latest armed group gains occurred after the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, issued harsh criticism on Friday.
During a briefing before the @UN Security Council, United States Ambassador @MikeWaltz presented evidence indicating increased Rwandan interference in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to Washington, Rwanda has exercised direct control over the M23… pic.twitter.com/Xlih4iCO0r
— Samuel Baker BYANSI (@SamuelBaker_B) December 12, 2025
He accused Rwanda of “leading the region toward increased instability and war.”
“The Rwandan defence forces have provided materiel, logistics and training support to M23 as well as fighting alongside M23 in DRC with roughly 5,000 to 7,000 troops,” not including possible reinforcements during the latest offensive, Waltz told the UN Security Council.
Rwandan firepower has included surface-to-air missiles, drones, and artillery, he explained.
UN peacekeeping director Jean-Pierre Lacroix also warned that the M23’s progress “has revived the spectre of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences” and highlighted the risk of the enormous Democratic Republic of the Congo becoming Balkanized.
“Recent developments pose a serious risk of the progressive fragmentation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly its eastern part,” he said.
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Since resuming hostilities in 2021, the M23 has conquered vast areas of land, resulting in a spiraling humanitarian disaster.
More than 200,000 people, most of them civilians, have been displaced by the fighting, according to the United Nations.
Earlier this month, UN experts said Rwanda’s army and the M23 had carried out summary executions and forced mass displacements of people in the region.
While denying giving the M23 military support, Rwanda argues it faces an existential threat from the presence across the Congolese border of ethnic Hutu militants with links to the 1994 Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis.
M23 Terrorizes East DR Congo As U.S Vows Severe Action Against Rwanda
