Congo fighting flares up within hours of peace deal ceremony

Fighting raged in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, a day after US President Donald Trump hosted Congolese and Rwandan leaders in Washington to sign new deals aimed at ending years of conflict in a region rich in minerals, reports CNN. 

Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda's Paul Kagame on Thursday reaffirmed commitments to a US-brokered deal reached in June to stabilize 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 US 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. 
The group said in a statement that 23 people were killed and several others wounded in bombardments that targeted towns in South Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. 

A Congolese army spokesman said clashes were ongoing and Rwandan forces were bombing. 

Analysts say US diplomacy paused escalation of fighting in eastern Congo but failed to resolve core issues, with neither Congo nor Rwanda fulfilling pledges made in the June agreement.  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. Reuters was not immediately able to authenticate them. 

"Numerous homes have been destroyed, and women as well as children have tragically lost their lives," wrote Lawrence Kanyuka, the spokesperson for AFC/M23, which is not bound by the terms of any Congo-Rwanda agreement.