A day after a peace accord aimed at ending the conflict in DR Congo was signed, fresh fighting in the east on Friday forced hundreds of civilians to flee across the border into Rwanda for safety, AFP journalists witnessed.
Saturday’s deal was meant to stabilise the east of the country, which is rich in resources but has been plagued by conflict for 30 years.
In January, anti-government armed group M23, backed by Kigali and its army went on the offensive, capturing the major regional cities of Goma in North Kivu province and Bukavu, South Kivu.
On Thursday in Washington, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame signed an agreement that their host, US President Donald Trump, dubbed a “miracle.”
But the deal has had little visible effect on the ground so far.
Friday saw heavy fighting in South Kivu between M23 and the Congolese army, backed by thousands of Burundian soldiers deployed alongside it.
Both sides are fighting for control of the border town of Kamanyola, where the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi meet. The town is currently controlled by M23.
Loud detonations, which shook the inside of buildings, echoed throughout the morning near Kamanyola, reported an AFP journalist in Bugarama, a border post on the Rwandan side some two kilometres (1.3 miles) away.
Around dawn, lines of civilians fleeing the fighting crossed the border watched by Rwandan police.
“The bombs were exploding above the houses,” said one witness, Immaculee Antoinette, from Ruhumba, near Kamanyola.
“We were asked to remain locked inside our houses, but that seemed impossible,” she said.
“Schools, hospitals, and civilian homes” were all shelled said Hassan Shabani, an administrative official in Kamanyola, which is under M23 control.
On Friday, the M23 accused the Burundian army of firing “without interruption” into the DRC.
On the Rwandan side, some residents were “scouring the hills from where the shots are coming, in small groups”, said Farizi Bizimana, a resident.
“The children and women are very scared and take refuge in houses when the gunfire becomes intense,” she added.
