May 11 (Reuters) – The Rwandan-backed AFC/M23 rebel group has withdrawn from several key positions in Congo’s eastern South Kivu province over the weekend, the Congolese army and a rebel official said on Monday, marking the first significant battlefield shift in months.
• The withdrawal followed military pressure from the Congolese army and diplomatic pressure from Washington, a spokesperson for Congo’s army told Reuters.
• It marks the first notable frontline movement since the rebels briefly took the city of Uvira in December before withdrawing under pressure from the United States. It comes two weeks after the U.S. imposed sanctions on former president Joseph Kabila over alleged links to AFC/M23, allegations he denies.
• The rebels pulled back from Kabunambo, some 35 kilometres north of Uvira, to Luvungi, roughly 30 kilometres further north towards the provincial capital Bukavu, where they were stationed before their advance on Uvira, the two sources said.
• Congolese families who fled last year’s violence to neighbouring Burundi have begun returning home, a civil society leader in Uvira told Reuters.
• Fighting has continued in eastern Congo despite mediation efforts led by the United States and other international actors.
• In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dated May 7 and shared with media over the weekend, AFC/M23 political coordinator Corneille Nangaa accused the U.S. of lacking credibility as a mediator, after signing a key minerals partnership deal with Kinshasa last year.
• The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
• Rwanda has denied accusations by the United Nations and Western governments that it supports the insurgents.
(Reporting by Congo newsroom, Ange Kasongo in Kinshasa, Stanis Bujakera in Washington and Clement Bonnerot in Dakar; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Sanjeev Miglani)
