South Kivu : civilians killed and abducted in Mikalati – the Burundian army again accused

SOS Médias Burundi

Bukavu, December 7, 2025 – The security situation deteriorated sharply this weekend in South Kivu, where an attack attributed to Burundian soldiers targeted civilians returning from the Bijombo market. As people flee and accusations mount, fighting between the AFC/M23, the FARDC, and the Burundian army has intensified, despite a recent peace agreement reached in Washington.

Mikalati : four civilians killed, mass abductions, and over 100 missing

Several local sources report an attack carried out on Saturday by Burundian soldiers in the town of Mikalati, in the Fizi territory, against residents returning from the weekly market in Bijombo, located in the neighboring Uvira territory.

A survivor, now a refugee in Mikenge, describes the attack :

“We were returning after buying salt, soap, oil, and sugar. When we arrived in Mikalati, we encountered Burundian soldiers who attacked us, looted what we had, and abducted many people, especially women.”

According to him, the military commander ordered them “to kill the men and collect their belongings.”

The Wazalendo community claims that 45 people, mostly women, are being held at the Mikalati military site. No official statement had been issued by the Burundian or Congolese governments as of Sunday morning.

A worsening humanitarian blockade

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had already warned of difficulties accessing food and healthcare in Minembwe, due to a blockade imposed for a month by the Burundian army, according to local sources.

The blockade is preventing the Banyamulenge from accessing the Bijombo market, causing the price of salt to rise from $1 to $10 per kilo, for example.

FDNB position

The spokesperson for the FDNB, Brigadier General Gaspard Baratuza, acknowledged on the BBC that some Banyamulenge are trapped in areas “where the enemy is” :

“It’s understandable that those who go to buy food for the enemy are blocked.”

Diaspora mobilization

A US-based association, the Mahoro Peace Association, which brings together members of the Banyamulenge community, has been organizing demonstrations for weeks to denounce “abuses by the Burundian army” and demand its withdrawal from the DRC.

State plane hit by Twirwaneho

On the same day, a light aircraft belonging to the Congolese State was hit by gunfire attributed to Twirwaneho, an armed group composed mainly of Banyamulenge allied with the M23.

The aircraft crashed into Lake Tanganyika, near Yungu. No official casualty figures have been released.

Intense fighting in the Ruzizi plain

On Friday, violent clashes erupted between the AFC/M23 and the FARDC, supported by units of the Burundian army and Wazalendo militia.

According to sources in Luvungi, an M23 drone targeted an FARDC vehicle, causing casualties.

The Congolese army claims to have shot down an M23 drone and destroyed a tank in Ngomo.

Several villages—Luvungi, Mutarule, Lubarika, Katogota, and Kamanyola—were affected, triggering further displacement toward Sange, Kiliba, and the Rwandan district of Rusizi in the Western Province.

A conflict fueled by complex regional alliances

These incidents come as the DRC and Rwanda signed an agreement in Washington on Thursday, mediated by the United States, aimed at reducing regional tensions. The conflict remains complex, however. The M23, a former Tutsi rebellion revived in 2021, is fighting the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC), supported by more than 10,000 Burundian soldiers and the local Wazalendo militias. Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23, now affiliated with the Congo River Alliance (AFC), a political and military movement hostile to the Congolese authorities and led by former CENI president Corneille Nangaa, who advocates for a “federal state.” Kigali firmly rejects these accusations.

Rwanda, in turn, accuses the DRC and Burundi of supporting the FDLR, a Rwandan Hutu group operating in eastern Congo and accused of participating in the 1994 genocide against Tutsis. The Washington agreement notably provides for the disarmament of these fighters, whom President Félix Tshisekedi describes as “a residual force.”

UN experts—deemed “imposters” by Kigali—claim that Rwanda has deployed approximately 6,000 troops to support the M23.

According to Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesperson for the AFC/M23, the current violence in South Kivu is a direct result of Burundi’s “disruptive involvement” in the region. He asserts that the movement “claims no territory in Burundi,” but denounces the “massive destruction caused by bombs launched from the Burundian territory.”

He also accuses Burundian forces, “armed and supported by the Kinshasa regime,” of “targeting the Tutsi Banyamulenge population in the Minembwe region.”

Kanyuka called on the population “to remain calm” and demanded “the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Burundian forces from Greater Kivu.”

Military reinforcements observed on the Burundian side

On Friday, journalists from SOS Médias Burundi observed several armored vehicles belonging to the Burundian army and the PNB (Burundi National Police) were heading towards the Congolese border in the Cibitoke region of northwestern Burundi, where a shell exploded the same day, injuring a 12-year-old child and causing panic among residents.

In Washington, President Ndayishimiye reacts

On the sidelines of discussions held in Washington, where he was attending as an observer, Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye stated :

“Burundi has a major role to play,”

adding that he hopes it is possible “to achieve lasting peace and the stabilization of the region.”