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“The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are continuing their deployment in Uvira and surrounding areas to consolidate their positions and secure people and their property,� Congolese army spokesperson Mak Hazukay said in the statement.

“Since yesterday, we have welcomed our soldiers back after more than a month away,� Alain Ramazani, a resident of Uvira, told The Associated Press over the phone. He added that the soldiers are in the city alongside fighters from the pro-government Wazalendo militia.

Congolese army jeeps were patrolling Uvira on Monday morning, but sporadic gunfire continued, with uncertainty over whether it involved Wazalendo fighters, soldiers or residents in the city flooded with weapons, said Ghislain Kabamba, director of the Observatory for Human Rights, Justice and Local Governance for Social Cohesion in Congo, who is based in Uvira.

M23 had taken following a rapid offensive. More than 1,500 people have been killed and about 300,000 displaced, the Congolese government's spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said Monday.

The rebel group later announced it would withdraw from the city, in what it said was a “unilateral trust-building measure� requested by the U.S. to facilitate the peace process.

The town was the Congo government’s last major foothold in South Kivu province after the provincial capital of Bukavu fell to the rebels in February. Its capture allowed the rebels to consolidate a broad corridor of influence across the east.

The rebel push into Uvira had also brought the conflict to the doorstep of neighboring , which has maintained troops in eastern Congo for years, heightening fears of a broader regional spillover.

The town’s seizure came days after Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan leader Paul Kagame met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington to reaffirm a U.S.-brokered peace deal.

Congo, the U.S. and U.N. experts , which has grown from hundreds of members in 2021 to around 6,500 fighters, according to the U.N.

More than 100 armed groups are vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, near the border with Rwanda, most prominently M23. The conflict has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, according .

Despite the signing of a brokered by the U.S. and , fighting continues on several fronts in eastern Congo, continuing to claim numerous civilian and military casualties.

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Kamale reported from Kinshasa, Congo.