Fresh clashes flared on Friday near Uvira in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo between Rwandan-backed M23 fighters and pro-government militias, sources said. At dawn, two M23 patrol boats were struck at Kalundu port on Lake Tanganyika before bursting into flames, witnesses reported.
A local civil society leader said an aircraft bombed the centre of the port, sending smoke over the lakeside neighbourhood. The Congolese army confirmed the destruction of the vessels, saying they carried weapons, equipment and other military supplies.
Regional army spokesman Reagan Mbuyi Kalonji said government forces had inflicted heavy losses on M23 and captured thirteen fighters. He also reported intense fighting in the highlands of Fizi, southeast of South Kivu, as clashes spread beyond the lakeshore.
Local officials said the army, backed by the Wazalendo militia, retook Makobola, about twenty kilometres south of Uvira. They said M23 fighters were pushed back into hills southwest of the city, tightening pressure on their positions.
Uvira is a strategic prize, controlling Congo’s land border with Burundi, a key military ally of the Kinshasa government. The city, home to several hundred thousand people, was seized by M23 earlier this month after a US-brokered peace deal.
Washington later accused Rwanda of violating the agreement, prompting M23 to announce it would withdraw from Uvira. Congolese forces dismissed that pledge as a media stunt, saying M23 redeployed secretly on surrounding hillsides. Contacted by AFP, the M23 declined to confirm losses or comment on renewed fighting, as uncertainty hung over the battered city.