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Contacted by AFP Thursday, the M23 declined to say how far its troops had withdrawn or their location.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
Ukraine says received 1,003 bodies from Russia
- The Russian side had received the remains of 26 killed Russian soldiers
KYIV: Kyiv said on Friday that it had received from Russia more than 1,000 remains of people that Moscow said were Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting the Kremlin’s army.
The exchange of prisoners of war and the remains of killed soldiers is one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“Today, repatriation activities took place. 1,003 bodies, which the Russian side claims belong to Ukrainian servicemen, have been returned to Ukraine,” Kyiv’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said in a statement on social media.
Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky confirmed an exchange between Moscow and Kyiv had taken place, writing on Telegram that the Russian side had received the remains of 26 killed Russian soldiers.
Medinsky said the exchange was made possible as part of agreements struck between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul earlier this year.
Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since Russia invaded, though neither side regularly publishes data on their own casualties.
