By JUSTIN KABUMBA and MONIKA PRONCZUK
GOMA, Congo (AP) — A bomb explosion killed greater than 30 folks and wounded 20 others in jap Congo following a dispute between the Congolese military and a pro-government militia, regardless of a deal signed in Washington and touted as a serious step towards peace within the nation.
Residents and civil society leaders informed The Related Press that the FARDC, the Congolese military’s acronym, and Wazalendo, which has been serving to the military fight the insurgents, clashed earlier than they felt the blast within the city of Sange in South Kivu Sunday night.
Greater than 100 armed teams vie for a foothold in mineral-rich jap Congo close to the border with Rwanda, most prominently the Rwanda-backed M23 group. The battle has created one of many world’s most vital humanitarian crises with greater than 7 million folks displaced, officers say.
The explosion got here lower than per week after a U.S.-brokered peace settlement was finalized in an try to cease the continued warfare between the Congolese armed forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 insurgent group within the jap a part of Congo. However the preventing continues, in keeping with residents, civil society and analysts.
“FARDC soldiers were coming from the front lines and wanted to reach the city of Uvira,” stated Faraja Mahano Robert, a civil society chief in Sange. “Once in Sange, they were ordered not to proceed, but some disagreed. That’s when they started shooting at each other, and then a bomb exploded, killing many people.”
Many residents have fled for security, primarily within the route of Burundi, eyewitnesses stated Monday.
“This morning, we woke up a little better, but people are still leaving the Sange area,” stated Amani Safari, a resident. “To the east of the town, there were clashes between the Wazalendo and the FARDC; two FARDC soldiers were killed around 7:30 AM.”
One other resident, David Kaserore, stated: “It’s difficult to distinguish between the enemy and the FARDC, as they are killing all the civilians. We demand that the government end this war. We are tired.”
The military didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
In the meantime, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi accused Rwanda in a speech in parliament on Monday of violating the peace settlement and “organizing the plundering of our natural resources and destabilizing our institutions.”
Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington final week to signal the peace deal. Lauded by the White Home as a “historic” settlement, the pact adopted monthslong peace efforts. The settlement finalized a deal signed in June.
President Donald Trump, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi, throughout a signing ceremony on the U.S. Institute of Peace, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photograph/Evan Vucci)
“The very next day after the signing, units of the Rwandan Defence Forces conducted and supported heavy weapons attacks launched from the Rwandan town of Bugarama, causing significant human and material damage,” he stated, calling the incident an “aggression by proxy” and refuting claims of inside insurrection.
Edouard Bizimana, the international minister of Burundi, accused Rwanda on Monday of “playing a double game. (Rwanda) claims to be negotiating and signing agreements, but in the meantime, it is intensifying attacks on the civilian population with kamikaze drones that kill instinctively.”
Burundian forces combat alongside the Congolese military to fight the M23 armed group.
Bizimana accused Rwanda of “indiscriminate attacks” on the civilians and troops, calling them “a provocation that Burundi cannot tolerate.”
He added his nation has formally warned Kigali and “if this is repeated, Burundi has the right to prosecute those who have attacked Burundi.”
There was no speedy remark from Rwandan authorities.
Final week, residents stated the preventing had intensified in South Kivu regardless of the deal. M23 and Congolese forces have repeatedly accused one another of violating the phrases of the ceasefire agreed on earlier this 12 months.
Earlier this 12 months, M23 seized Goma and Bukavu, two key cities in jap Congo, in a serious escalation of the battle.
The rebels in Congo are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, in keeping with U.N. consultants, and at occasions have vowed to march so far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, about 1,000 miles to the east.
Related Press writers Saleh Mwanamilongo in Bonn, Germany, Jean-Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo, and Renovat Ndabashinze in Bujumbura, Burundi contributed to this report.
