Sawt Falasteen - Civilians venture home after militia seizes DR Congo town

The group of civilians had been stranded in the Democratic Republic of Congo by fighting after the M23 militia launched an offensive in early December.

Days after signing a US-brokered peace deal in Washington, the M23 seized the eastern DRC town of Uvira, allowing it to control the land border with Burundi and cut the DRC off from military support from its neighbour.

At a visit to the newly reopened border organised by the M23, the force's spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka sought to show media on Sunday that Burundians were now safely able to return.

Two long, single-file queues stretched from the checkpoint into the horizon: one for men, another for women.

"We pleaded with the M23 to understand our suffering and help us cross the border," said Heshimwe Bismas, one of the Burundian nationals waiting.

But the capture of Uvira has raised fears of a wider war.

UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned that the M23's latest advance "has revived the spectre of a regional conflagration" in Africa's Great Lakes region, as well as the prospect of the "fragmentation" of the DRC.

- Looted homes -

Since taking up arms again in 2021, the M23 has seized swathes of territory, leading to a spiralling humanitarian crisis.

More than 200,000 people, mostly civilians, have been displaced by the fighting, according to the UN.

The M23's latest advance, launched early December, has left its mark along National Route 5, which runs from Kamanyola to Uvira.

Burnt-out Congolese army trucks, abandoned weapons and ammunition, deserted villages and looted homes line the usually busy road, now almost empty of traffic.

On Saturday, a few dozen displaced people walked along the roadside through the bare Ruzizi plain, against mountains rising in the background.

Among them, Samuel Masikitiko struggled to push an overloaded bicycle piled high with sacks of flour, solar panels and empty jerrycans, his son perched on top.

Now that the fighting has stopped, Masikitiko decided to return home.

For the father-son pair, the end of a long journey is near.

"Last Tuesday, the fighting was intense and we fled towards Sange," a settlement near Uvira, he said.

"After two days there, the fighting reached Sange. We fled again towards Kigube on the Burundian border."

Neaby, Yona Were hoped to find his three sisters, lost in the chaos when they fled.

"I don't know if they are dead or alive. My mother went to look for them across the border in Burundi," he said.

Safi Mapendo, a displaced woman from Luvungi, walked on foot, balancing a heavy bundle on her head.

She said she was forced to return home to avoid "dying of hunger".

- Search for fighters -

On the outskirts of Uvira near the border, the stalls and shops of Kavimvira, usually bustling, were almost all closed on Sunday.

Residents hurried home before evening, while M23 fighters searched houses for Congolese or Burundian soldiers or allied militia members and hidden weapons.

Burundi had sent 18,000 troops to support Congolese forces against the M23, but most of that contingent has now crossed back.

"The situation is not yet back to normal. We walk to do our shopping. Taxis are scarce," said one resident, who asked not to be named.

"Even finding a shop to buy water is a headache," he added.

Some residents gathered on Sunday in Uvira's cathedral to attend mass and pray for peace.

While a fragile calm has returned to the city, fighting rages just 15 kilometres (nine miles) to the south in Makobola.

Despite Washington's protests, the M23 continues to advance and now threatens the towns of Baraka and Fizi, where Congolese and Burundian forces have retreated.

Y.Shaath--SF-PST