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December 8, 2025

Hundreds Flee Fighting in Congo Within Hours of Trump's Peace Deal Ceremony
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Hundreds of people have fled heavy fighting in the eastern Democratic
Republic of the Congo after M23 rebels clashed with Congolese forces
backed by thousands of Burundian soldiers. The violence erupted in the
Ruzizi Plain near the DRC's borders with Rwanda and Burundi. Survivors
described bombs falling on civilians fleeing an initial attack on their
communities.

Marie Mapenzi: "We were about to climb the mountain just after the
Luberizi bridge. When we arrived at the first houses of Mutarule, those
who were in front and behind us weren't hit, but us who were in the
middle, that's where the bomb fell, in succession, the first, the second
and the third. That's when some people started falling and others died
on the spot. I was injured and thought it was only me, but my child who
was on my back was also hit."

The fighting came just one day after President Trump hosted the leaders
of the DRC and Rwanda in Washington, D.C., at the U.S. Institute of
Peace, which the State Department has renamed Donald J. Trump Institute
of Peace, where they signed an agreement aimed at ending the decadeslong
conflict in the eastern DRC. Trump declared he'd brought peace to the
region, describing it as a "glorious triumph" and a "miracle."


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