Fighting erupted Thursday between Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and local militias in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing 11 people, local sources said.

The violence struck the town of Luke in North Kivu’s Masisi territory, just days after a ceasefire deal was signed in Qatar last weekend.

Among the dead were eight civilians, while at least 21 others were injured and remain trapped without medical evacuation due to ongoing clashes.

Luke’s main health centre, the largest in the region, was destroyed in the fighting, according to a medical source speaking anonymously.

“I fear the worst if the fighting continues,” said John Shukuru, a local resident who witnessed casualties on the ground.

The district chief, Alexandre Kipanda Mungo, blamed M23 rebels for attacking Luke, Nyamabako, and nearby villages, accusing them of violating the ceasefire.

“M23 have not abandoned war,” he declared, highlighting the group’s expanding control in the region since their 2021 resurgence.

M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka confirmed clashes but accused government forces of provoking the conflict by attacking rebel positions.

Much of Masisi has slipped from government control, once held by the Congolese army and local militias known as “wazalendo” or “patriots.”

These militias, often blending with civilians, complicate efforts to distinguish fighters from non-combatants in the volatile landscape.

The mineral-rich eastern Congo has endured over three decades of conflict, marked by broken truces and shifting alliances.

Despite hopes raised by the Doha declaration, this fresh outbreak signals the persistent instability undermining peace efforts in the region.

International observers had hailed the agreement as progress, but the renewed violence underscores how fragile those gains remain.

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