UVIRA, DR Congo, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Along the road linking Bukavu to Uvira in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the marks of war remain stark and unmistakable following a series of offensives by the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels, who recently claimed they had taken control of the strategic city of Uvira.
Charred military vehicles lie twisted along the roadside. Buildings are scarred by bullet impacts. Abandoned military positions and shards of metal litter the asphalt. Together, they bear witness to the intensity of clashes between the M23 and the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) along this vital artery connecting the northern and southern parts of South Kivu province.
"WE FLEE WITH WHATEVER WE COULD CARRY"
Since Dec. 2, South Kivu province has been engulfed in fighting on multiple fronts. The M23 said Wednesday that it had seized control of Uvira city, triggering a wave of internal displacement across the province. Around 500,000 people have been "on the move" since Dec. 2, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
DRC authorities said more than 400 people have been killed since the new round of fighting began. At the same time, Burundi announced the closure of its border posts with the DRC, all located in South Kivu province, a move that has further deepened an already severe humanitarian crisis.
From Kamanyola, a town about 50 kilometers south of Bukavu, South Kivu's capital city, the road offers an early glimpse of what lies ahead. Along its edges, military vehicles remain where they were left, burned out, torn open and abandoned. In some stretches, travel has become hazardous, with unexploded ordnance still visible near the roadway.
The signs of conflict accumulate with every passing kilometer: twisted metal, makeshift shelters, and civilian and military vehicles riddled with shrapnel or deserted in haste, revealing a population caught off guard as the territory descended into chaos within hours.
In Luvungi, a resident recalled the first moments of the fighting as he returned home. "The bombardments started early Tuesday morning. We fled with whatever we could carry," he said anonymously. Now back with his family, he believes the situation has eased somewhat. But with the Burundian border still closed, returning home has sometimes become the only remaining option.
From Luvungi to Luberizi, and through several villages lining the road toward Uvira, scenes of war scars repeat themselves. Life remains largely at a standstill despite the cautious return of some displaced residents, who move carefully, as if hoping that silence might take hold.
FRAGILE CALM UNDER WATCH
At the entrance to Uvira, a fragile calm appears to have settled after days of heightened tension. Daily activity remains severely disrupted, but the city is not entirely frozen, as residents slowly reemerge, stepping cautiously out of their homes as if testing the air. A handful of shops have reopened and markets are tentatively reorganizing.
This hesitant return is unfolding under a heavy military presence, with M23 fighters deployed around key sites across the city and stationed at major intersections. Uvira is functioning again, but under close watch, several residents told Xinhua.
Uvira, South Kivu's second-largest city, served as the provisional administrative center after the provincial capital Bukavu fell to the M23 in February.
In several neighborhoods of Uvira and in nearby villages, the bodies of unidentified individuals have been recovered in recent days, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is overseeing the operations. The precise circumstances surrounding the deaths remain difficult to establish, amid restricted access to certain areas and limited verifiable information on the ground.
Speaking to Xinhua in Uvira, M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said investigations would be conducted to determine the exact causes of the deaths.
The fighting did not directly pit M23 forces against FARDC inside the city itself, he said, adding that most Congolese troops had already withdrawn from Uvira by the time rebel fighters arrived.
At the regional level, the situation remains highly volatile.
Addressing the United Nations Security Council on Friday, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN under-secretary-general for peace operations, said the DRC continues to face a deep security and humanitarian crisis, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.
He warned that the latest M23 offensive in South Kivu had "revived the specter of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences." Recent developments posed "a serious risk of fragmentation of the DRC, particularly in its eastern part," he said, adding that "the conflict is becoming increasingly regionalized."
Lacroix said the direct or indirect involvement of forces and armed groups from neighboring countries, combined with cross-border movements of displaced civilians and fighters, significantly heightened "the risk of regional escalation."
Such a trajectory, he noted, threatens not only eastern DRC but the entire Great Lakes region.
Between Dec. 5 and Dec. 9, about 38,000 asylum seekers from eastern DRC crossed into Burundi to escape the violence, Burundi's National Radio and Television reported on Wednesday.
According to the DRC government, the presence of hostile forces in Uvira prompted the closure of the border with Burundi, cutting off a vital supply corridor for food, fuel and basic goods, and raising fears of shortages.
On Friday, Kinshasa said it would start discussions with Burundi on the possible establishment of a temporary humanitarian corridor. ■