M23 Claims Detention of Burundian Troops

(MENAFN) M23 insurgents operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have asserted that they detained hundreds of Burundian military personnel amid recent battles near the frontier city of Uvira, signaling a significant worsening of hostilities that persist despite a peace agreement mediated by the United States.

Representatives of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), an armed coalition that incorporates the M23 faction, stated that the Burundian soldiers were taken prisoner during confrontations with units supporting the Congolese national army in South Kivu province.

For several years, Burundi has stationed forces in eastern Congo to assist the government in Kinshasa in its fight against various armed militias active across the region.

“The AFC/M23 declares its readiness to hand over to the government of Burundi military personnel captured on the battlefield,” the group’s spokesperson, Lawrence Kanyuka, said in a statement on Monday.

Separately, Busu Bwa Ngwi, the M23-installed governor of South Kivu, said on Saturday that the movement continues to aim to “reclaim all provinces” and cautioned Burundian troops and other foreign contingents “to return to their countries immediately.”

These reported detentions followed closely after M23 combatants took control of Uvira, a key urban center on the shores of Lake Tanganyika near the Burundian border. Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported that the assault resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people and displaced thousands, alleging that the operation received support from Rwanda’s Defense Forces.

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