M23’s capture of Uvira, a Congolese town of 700,000 residents and a major economic and commercial hub serving Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia, this week signalled a new direction of the 30-year-old eastern Congo conflict, with Burundi seeing a looming threat and immediately shutting its border with DRC.
The move by AFC/M23 undermines already struggling peace bids between rebels and the Congolese government. While some progress seemed to have been made in the separate US-mediated process between the DRC and Rwanda, experts warn that the gains risk being reversed as the rebel group eyes more territory, and Burundi braces for war.
