M23 agents still in DRC's Uvira city despite troop pullout, residents say

M23's plain-clothed intelligence agents were still deployed on Thursday in Uvira, local and security sources said, after the rebels announced that they had begun withdrawing from the eastern DR Congo city.

After seizing the major cities of Goma and Bukavu early this year, troops from M23 captured Uvira near the border with Burundi on December 10.

Its fall came days after the Congolese and Rwandan leaders signed a peace deal in Washington and the offensive drew sharp condemnation from the United States, which vowed "action" over the "clear violation" of the US-brokered accord.

On Wednesday, the M23 said it had begun pulling out from the city and called on "mediators and other partners to ensure Uvira is protected from violence."

'Plain-clothed soldiers'

Local and security sources reported that troops had moved towards the north of the city.

Early on Thursday, M23 plain-clothed agents were still seen in the streets and at strategic points, according to local sources.

"At city hall, at the headquarters, in front of banks, where there were a large number of M23 elements, we woke up this morning and it's M23 agents who are there," a civil society representative told AFP on condition of anonymity.

An M23 official confirmed to AFP Thursday that "soldiers in plain clothes" were still in Uvira as well as "our intelligence services."

DRC government reacts

Provincial authorities in South Kivu, where Uvira is located, said in a statement on Thursday that M23 rebels were nine kilometres from Uvira, with their artillery and "no intention whatsoever of returning."

Contacted by AFP on Thursday, M23 declined to say how far its troops had withdrawn or their location.

"This withdrawal will only be valid if our services can fully verify by regaining control of the city," Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya told AFP.