Congolese authorities and a local civil society organisation said on Thursday that mass graves had been discovered in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in areas recently vacated by M23 rebels, as violence intensifies despite a peace deal mediated by the United States.
South Kivu Governor Jean-Jacques Purusi said officials had uncovered two mass graves containing at least 171 bodies in the Kiromoni and Kavimvira neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Uvira, reports AP/UNB.
“At this stage, we have identified two sites: one mass grave containing approximately 30 bodies in Kiromoni, not far from the Burundian border on the Congolese side, and another in Kavimvira where 141 bodies were found,” Purusi told the Associated Press by telephone.
The Associated Press said it could not independently verify the claims. An M23 spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Executive Secretariat of the Local Network for the Protection of Civilians, a regional civil society group, said it had sought to visit the sites but was prevented from doing so by the Congolese army.
Preliminary information suggests the victims were killed by M23 fighters, according to the group’s vice-president, Yves Ramadhani.
Both the governor and the organisation alleged the rebels targeted the victims on suspicion of links to the Congolese army or pro-government militias.
Human rights organisations have accused both the Congolese military and M23 of extrajudicial killings and other abuses.
M23 seized control of Uvira in December after a swift offensive that left more than 1,500 people dead and displaced around 300,000, according to regional authorities.
The group later said it would withdraw from the city as a “unilateral trust-building measure” requested by Washington to advance peace efforts.
Congo, the United States and United Nations experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which has expanded from a few hundred fighters in 2021 to about 6,500, according to the UN.
More than 100 armed groups are competing for influence in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the Rwandan border, with M23 among the most prominent. The conflict has fuelled one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises, displacing more than 7 million people, according to the UN refugee agency.
Despite a US-brokered agreement between Congo and Rwanda and ongoing talks between the rebels and the Congolese government, clashes continue on multiple fronts in the east, causing further civilian and military casualties.
