'They shot my neighbour in the head' - the lakeside city traumatised by war

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Rebel fighters and Rwandan troops are accused of committing atrocities after capturing the DR Congo city of Uvira in December.

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Human Rights Watch (HRW) says its investigators found evidence of the execution of 53 civilians - 46 men, one woman and six children - during door-to-door raids in the city's neighbourhoods after the rebels, widely believed to be backed by Rwanda, captured it in December.

Rwanda has consistently denied that it supports that M23 or that its own soldiers have been deployed to resource-rich eastern DR Congo.

But HRW says many of the interviewees alleged witnessing atrocities committed by uniformed Rwandan soldiers as well as M23 fighters.

"They [M23 fighters] shot my neighbour first in the head," said one of the 130 residents interviewed by HRW.

Another said he saw four members of his family killed.

"I wasn't hit so I just ran to the lake. I saw my brother, his wife, and two of his children fall," he was quoted as saying.

The M23 and Rwandan government have not yet responded to a BBC request for comment.

Warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual violence

The M23 captured Uvira - which lies on the shores of Lake Tanganyika - days after US President Donald Trump brokered a peace deal between DR Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in a bid to end the devastating conflict in the resource-rich region.

The US and European powers accuse Rwanda - which borders eastern DR Congo - of supporting the rebel offensive.

UN experts have accused Rwanda of having "de facto control" of the M23's operations. They said M23 recruits were trained under Rwandan supervision and supported by high-tech Rwandan weaponry.

The M23 withdrew from Uvira - the gateway to Burundi, a key military ally of DR Congo - in January following intense diplomatic pressure.

The HRW report is the firs

Source: BBC

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