KINSHASA: M23 police and plain-clothed intelligence agents were still deployed Thursday in Uvira, local and security sources said, after the armed group announced it had begun withdrawing from the eastern DR Congo city.
After seizing the major cities of Goma and Bukavu early this year, fighters from the Rwanda-backed M23 group captured Uvira near the border with Burundi on December 10.
Its fall came days after the Congolese and Rwandan leaders signed a peace deal in Washington and the offensive drew sharp condemnation from the United States, which vowed “action” over the “clear violation” of the US-brokered accord.
The seizure of Uvira — a city of several hundred thousand people — allowed the anti-government M23 to control the land border with Burundi and cut the DRC off from military support from its neighbor.
On Wednesday, the M23 said it had begun pulling out from the city and called on “mediators and other partners to ensure Uvira is protected from violence, reprisals and remilitarization.”
Local and security sources reported that troops had moved toward the north of the city.
Early Thursday, M23 police and plain-clothed agents were still seen in the streets and at strategic points, according to local sources.
“At city hall, at the headquarters, at the police, in front of banks, where there were a large number of M23 elements, we woke up this morning and it’s police officers who are there,” a civil society representative told AFP on condition of anonymity.
An M23 official confirmed to AFP Thursday that “police and soldiers in plain clothes” were still in Uvira as well as “our intelligence services.”
Provincial authorities in South Kivu, where Uvira is located, said in a statement Thursday that M23 forces were nine kilometers (nearly six miles) from Uvira, with their artillery and “no intention whatsoever of returning.”
Contacted by AFP Thursday, the M23 declined to say how far its troops had withdrawn or their location.
“This withdrawal will only be valid if our services can fully verify by regaining control of the city,” Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya told AFP.
M23 police still present as armed group withdraws from DR Congo city
https://arab.news/55gmj
M23 police still present as armed group withdraws from DR Congo city
- Local and security sources reported that troops had moved toward the north of the city.
- Early Thursday, M23 police and plain-clothed agents were still seen in the streets and at strategic points
India plans AI ‘data city’ on staggering scale
- ‘The data city is going to come in one ecosystem ... with a 100 kilometer radius’
NEW DELHI: As India races to narrow the artificial intelligence gap with the United States and China, it is planning a vast new “data city” to power digital growth on a staggering scale, the man spearheading the project says.
“The AI revolution is here, no second thoughts about it,” said Nara Lokesh, information technology minister for Andhra Pradesh state, which is positioning the city of Visakhapatnam as a cornerstone of India’s AI push.
“And as a nation ... we have taken a stand that we’ve got to embrace it,” he said ahead of an international AI summit next week in New Delhi.
Lokesh boasts the state has secured investment agreements of $175 billion involving 760 projects, including a $15 billion investment by Google for its largest AI infrastructure hub outside the United States.
And a joint venture between India’s Reliance Industries, Canada’s Brookfield and US firm Digital Realty is investing $11 billion to develop an AI data center in the same city.
Visakhapatnam — home to around two million people and popularly known as “Vizag” — is better known for its cricket ground that hosts international matches than cutting-edge technology.
But the southeastern port city is now being pitched as a landing point for submarine internet cables linking India to Singapore.
“The data city is going to come in one ecosystem ... with a 100 kilometer radius,” Lokesh said. For comparison, Taiwan is roughly 100 kilometers wide.
Lokesh said the plan goes far beyond data connectivity, adding that his state had “received close to 25 percent of all foreign direct investments” to India in 2025.
“It’s not just about the data centers,” he explained while outlining a sweeping vision of change, with Andhra Pradesh offering land at one US cent per acre for major investors.
