Fighting raged in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, December 5, 2025, a day after United States President Donald Trump hosted Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Washington to sign new deals aimed at ending years of conflict in the region.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame on Thursday reaffirmed commitments to a U.S.-brokered deal reached in June to stabilise the vast country and open the way for more Western mining investment.
“We’re settling a war that’s been going on for decades,” said Trump, whose administration has intervened in a string of conflicts around the world to burnish his credentials as a peacemaker and advance U.S. business interests.
On the ground, however, fierce fighting continued with the warring sides blaming one another.
The Rwandan-backed AFC/M23 rebel group, which seized the two largest cities in eastern Congo earlier this year and is not bound by the Washington agreement, said forces loyal to the government were conducting widespread attacks.
A Congolese army spokesman said clashes were ongoing and Rwandan forces were bombing.
Trump hosts Rwanda, DR Congo Presidents to sign peace agreement Thursday
Videos shared online on Friday showed dozens of displaced families fleeing on foot with their belongings and livestock near the town of Luvungi in South Kivu province in eastern Congo.
“Numerous homes have been destroyed, and women as well as children have tragically lost their lives,” said Lawrence Kanyuka, the spokesperson for AFC/M23, which is not bound by the terms of any Congo-Rwanda agreement.
Kanyuka, in a post on X, added that forces loyal to the Congolese government “continued their relentless attacks on densely populated areas of North Kivu and South Kivu, using fighter jets, drones and heavy artillery.”
A Congo army spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that clashes were ongoing Friday along the Kaziba, Katogota and Rurambo axis in the South Kivu province.
“There is population displacement in Luvungi due to Rwandan Defence Force bombardment. They are bombing blindly,” he said.
Rwanda’s army and government spokespersons were not immediately available for comment.
A senior AFC/M23 official also disclosed that rebel forces had retaken the town of Luberika and shot down a Congolese army drone.
“The war continues on the ground and has no connection with the signing of the agreement that took place yesterday in Washington,” the official, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media, said.
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