Uvira : residents begin to emerge after a day of violent fighting

SOS Médias Burundi

Uvira, December 12, 2025 – In the aftermath of intense clashes between the M23 movement and the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC), supported by the local Wazalendo militias backed by Kinshasa, some residents of Uvira, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, have tentatively begun to leave their homes.

In several neighborhoods – Monument, Route Mwami, Nyamianda, Kimanga, and Mulongwe – residents were seen on the avenues, while others were already venturing into the streets. Despite this apparent lull, the city remains paralyzed : no cars or motorcycles were visible, except for vehicles belonging to the M23, which is now present in the city.

A relative lull after the gunfire

According to several residents, the last gunfire rang out early in the morning of December 11 for nearly fifteen minutes. “Since then, we haven’t heard any gunfire all day,” said a resident, relieved but still worried by the lingering uncertainty.

In some streets of Kasenga and Kavimvira, the bodies of Wazalendo fighters were still visible in the morning. Red Cross teams were seen collecting them, a Kasenga resident reported.

Urgent needs : water, electricity, and food

While the new AFC/M23 authorities appear to control several areas of Uvira, residents are urgently demanding the restoration of electricity and water. The city has been without power for two days.

“If they control us now, they should at least bring back the electricity.” “We don’t even have anywhere to charge our phones anymore,” laments a resident.

Signs of fear are also visible in the neighborhoods. Several families have begun cleaning the outside of their homes, claiming they were informed that AFC/M23 fighters are demanding strict cleanliness around the houses.

Shops closed, markets paralyzed

Despite the reopening of many homes, economic life remains completely at a standstill. Shops and markets, essential for the daily supply of this city of approximately 400,000 inhabitants, remain closed.

“The war caught us without supplies. I came from Kalimabenge looking for someone who could sell me potatoes,” explains a resident.

Regional context and tensions in the Great Lakes region

The city of Uvira is located a few kilometers from Bujumbura, the commercial capital of Burundi, where the United Nations agencies and the central administration are concentrated. For three decades, eastern DRC has been marked by escalating conflicts involving multiple armed groups. The M23, composed mainly of Congolese Tutsis and reactivated in 2021, now controls several towns in North and South Kivu, including Uvira. Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the M23, while Rwanda denounces the support provided by the DRC and Burundi to the FDLR, a Rwandan Hutu group whose members are accused of participating in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis.

Burundi, for its part, has deployed more than 10,000 soldiers to the DRC to support the FARDC and local Wazalendo militias, further complicating the situation.

As part of diplomatic efforts to reduce regional tensions, a Washington-mediated agreement was signed on December 4 between Rwanda and the DRC, with Burundi represented by its president, Évariste Ndayishimiye, as an observer. This agreement notably provides for the disarmament of the FDLR, which President Félix Tshisekedi describes as “a residual force reduced to banditry,” as well as the reduction of tensions.

The Great Lakes region thus remains suspended in these rivalries, as local clashes could quickly escalate into an open regional crisis.