The massive deployment of Congolese troops and allies in Uvira city has angered the AFC/M23 that preferred the City be monitored by a neutral force.
The rebels officially handed Uvira City to MONUSCO on Sunday and thereafter withdrew their Observation and Monitoring Unit.
Lawrence Kanyuka, a publicist of the rebel alliance revealed that the coalition forces of the Kinshasa regime, the FARDC, Mai-Mai Wazalendo, the Burundi National Defense Force, as well as armed elements not yet identified, occupied the city of Uvira immediately after our (rebels )withdrawal.
“Since then, these forces have plunged the city into a spiral of violence and fear, turning Uvira into a true theater of terror: systematic looting, dissemination of hate speech and ethnic targeting of Banyamulenge compatriots due to their facial features marked by the deliberate destruction of their homes, churches, and businesses,” Kanyuka said on Monday.
Kanyuka added that FARDC and it’s allies have begun attacking positions of the rebels.
“The coalition forces occupying the city of Uvira have multiplied attacks against our positions on the High Plateaus,” he said.
“They attacked our positions at Kipese in the Lubero territory, and on Monday, January 19, 2026, they launched an offensive against Kasoko in the Masisi territory,” Kanyuka said.
According to Kanyuka the return of Congolese troops to Uvira has forced Banyamulenge into internal exile, stripped of all protection, their dignity, and their means of subsistence, and find themselves in urgent need of immediate and substantial humanitarian assistance.
