Uvira, February 13, 2025 – Shocking new video footage leaked on social media has revealed a container truck loaded with weapons and ammunition being openly distributed to Mai-Mai Wazalendo militias and civilians in Uvira. The footage, which surfaced earlier today, has sparked outrage and raised serious concerns about a coordinated effort to exterminate the Banyamulenge community.
According to eyewitness accounts and the leaked footage, armed groups were seen climbing onto the truck and freely picking up weapons, including PKM machine guns. The video suggests an alarming lack of oversight, with no apparent control over who receives the weapons or how they will be used.
This revelation comes amid growing reports of systematic weapons distributions across South Kivu, with previous incidents documented in Fizi on December 26-27, 2024, and Baraka on January 5-6, 2025. Thousands of fighters have reportedly been mobilized in Minembwe, Fizi, Mwenga, and the highlands of Uvira, raising fears of a broader ethnic cleansing operation.
These military preparations have directly preceded a series of deadly attacks on Banyamulenge villages, with major assaults occurring on December 25-27, January 19, February 10-11, and again this morning, February 13, 2025.
Alongside these attacks, hate speech and death threats against the Banyamulenge have intensified. On February 5, 2025, South Kivu’s Vice Governor Jean Jacques Elakano made inflammatory remarks in Baraka. On February 9, Mai-Mai leader Réné Itongwa and John Kasimbira Makanaki issued warnings in Uvira, calling for the forced removal of the Banyamulenge. Their spokesperson reinforced their message, stating that Banyamulenge must leave immediately or face extermination, with chilling words: “Soon, those who refuse to leave will become fertilizers for Congolese soil.”
The latest footage has fueled suspicions that the Congolese government is directly arming militias, enabling them to wage war against the Banyamulenge. The distribution of weapons in broad daylight suggests either state endorsement or a complete breakdown of security control in the region.
Critics are questioning who authorized the release of these weapons, how many have been distributed, and what steps, if any, are being taken to prevent an all-out massacre.
As footage of these events spreads across social media, pressure is mounting on the Congolese government and international community to intervene before the situation spirals into full-scale ethnic cleansing.
“If nothing is done now, the consequences will be catastrophic,” warned one analyst. “This is not speculation—there is clear, visual evidence of what is happening. No one can later claim they were unaware.”
With tensions escalating and weapons flowing into the hands of militias, the fate of the Banyamulenge community in eastern Congo hangs in the balance.