Fighting flares in DR Congo within hours of Trump’s peace deal ceremony

A day after DRC and Rwanda leaders were hosted in Washington to sign a peace agreement that would end decades of conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, fighting has resurrected between the M23 rebel group and government forces.

The M23 organization claimed in a statement that the DRC’s army had bombarded 23 people and injured several others during Friday’s renewed fighting and that the two conflicting factions had blamed one another for it.

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In a post on X, M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka claimed that Congolese forces and allies “attacked densely populated areas in North Kivu and South Kivu, using fighter jets, drones, and heavy artillery.”

He claimed that four people were killed and two were seriously injured when two bombs launched from Burundi on Thursday evening struck Kamanyola town.

The Rwandan-backed group is not bound by the US peace agreement, which earlier this year seized the two largest cities in eastern DRC, Goma and Bukavu.

A senior M23 official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, claimed rebel forces had taken control of Luberika and shot down a drone from the Congolese army.

Meanwhile, a DRC army spokesman confirmed to Reuters that clashes were occurring in South Kivu province along the Kaziba, Katogota, and Rurambo axis.

“Luvungi’s population is being displaced as a result of Rwandan Defense Force bombardment. He claimed that they are blindly bombing.

The government and army spokespeople in Rwanda were unavailable for comment right away.

The renewed fighting comes one day after Rwandan President Paul Kagame and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi reiterated commitments to a US-brokered agreement that would stabilize the vast nation and entice more Western mining investment.

Trump’s administration has intervened in a number of conflicts around the world to undermine his reputation as a peacemaker and advance US business interests, according to Trump, who said, “We’re settling a war that’s been going on for decades.”

According to analysts, US diplomacy caused a halt to fighting in the eastern DRC, but failed to address key issues, with neither Rwanda nor the DRC fulfilling promises made in the June agreement.

More than 700 Congolese nationals, mostly women and children, crossed into neighboring Rwanda on Friday, according to Phanuel Sindayiheba, a local government official in the Rusizi district of western Rwanda, to a press release.

He claimed that the refugees were being temporarily housed at a district transit center, where they were given basic supplies, such as bedding and food.

Some displaced people were seen moving toward Rwanda along the DRC-Rwanda Bugarama-Kamanyola border post, some carrying their belongings and livestock, according to footage that was shared on social media.