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War in Eastern Congo : the city of Kamanyola has been recaptured by the rebels, which brings them to control the border with three countries

The city of Kamanyola located in the chiefdom of Ngweshe, territory of Walungu in the province of South Kivu in eastern Congo, came under the control of M23 rebels on the evening of Tuesday, February 18, after spontaneous clashes with members of the local militias maintained by Congolese authorities commonly known as the Wazalendo. The M23 rebels who already controlled the city of Bunagana, bordering Uganda since June 2022 and the main city of eastern DRC – Goma bordering Rwanda since January 27, now become the masters of another border with Rwanda and Burundi.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Kamanyola, which shares the border with Rwanda and Burundi, two countries where several tens of thousands of Congolese refugees have recently headed, is a strategic area directly opening the way to Luvungi, Sange and up to the city of Uvira located a few kilometers from the commercial capital of Burundi, Bujumbura, where the United Nations agencies and the central administration of Burundi are concentrated. A strong psychosis has set in after the capture of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, and Kamanyola by the rebels, SOS Médias Burundi has learned.

This advance by the rebels comes as Burundian troops begin to withdraw from the Congolese soil, after having fought alongside the FARDC – the Congolese army and the Wazalendo as part of bilateral cooperation between the Burundian and Congolese governments.

Residents of the center of Kamanyola told SOS Médias Burundi on Tuesday evening that « the M23 rebels first started chasing away Burundian soldiers and the Wazalendo who were in the village of Kamanyola before taking complete control of the city of Kamanyola. »

« Some residents came out to welcome the rebels and greet them. There were some who said : here are our liberators, » SOS Médias saw in a video that circulated on social media. These are scenes that have been observed everywhere the rebels have passed since they seized Goma.

« The majority of Burundian soldiers fled to their country where there was no intense fighting in Kamanyola. There were a few Burundian soldiers and the Wazalendo who resisted on the Kamanyola bridge, » said another resident of Kamanyola. He is happy that the rebels are the new masters of the area.

The city of Kamanyola fell into the hands of the rebels after the capture of Nyangezi on Monday. Nyangezi is also located in the territory of Walungu.

The city of Kamanyola is located some 75 kilometers from the Gatumba-Kavimvira border between Burundi and Congo, at the entrance to the city of Uvira, which has become a bulwark for Burundians who have been facing an extreme fuel shortage for four years.

At least a hundred Congolese police officers have fled to Burundi from Uvira, the Burundian minister in charge of internal affairs announced Wednesday in the commercial capital Bujumbura.

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Officials from the Congo River Alliance and the M23 at a press conference in Goma, the capital of North Kivu controlled by M23 rebels since January 27, 2025 (SOS Médias Burundi)