SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
In June, the Trump administration brokered what it called a historic peace deal between Congo and Rwanda, key parts of which were supposed to be implemented this month. President Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for resolving the decades-long conflict in eastern Congo, but on the ground, there is little sign that peace has taken hold, as Emmet Livingstone reports from the capital city of Kinshasa. And a warning - you will hear the sound of gunfire in this story.
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UNIDENTIFIED M23 RECRUITS: (Singing in non-English language).
EMMET LIVINGSTONE: On a dusty parade ground in eastern Congo, new recruits sing allegiance to their commanders. This is the latest show of strength by Rwandan-backed M23 rebels. In an ominous sign in the past few weeks, the rebels boasted of having enlisted over 7,000 new fighters.
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SULTANI MAKENGA: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED M23 RECRUITS: (Non-English language spoken).
LIVINGSTONE: In videos posted by the rebels on social media, the M23's shadowy military leader, Sultani Makenga, addresses the recruits, his message clear - M23 is not going anywhere.
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LIVINGSTONE: Back in February, M23 rebels and troops from neighboring Rwanda had seized eastern Congo's two largest cities and were threatening to march on the capital, Kinshasa. There were fears that Congo would collapse, which prompted the Trump administration to intervene.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So we're here today to celebrate a glorious triumph - and that's what it is - for the cause of peace.
LIVINGSTONE: It was a hopeful moment.
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TRUMP: And this is a long time waiting.
LIVINGSTONE: On June 27, the foreign ministers of Congo and Rwanda stood beside Trump at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, smiling, shaking hands. Just months earlier, this image would have seemed impossible.
M23 rebels have been fighting in this lush, mineral-rich corner of eastern Congo since late 2021. They're the latest in a line of ethnic Tutsi militias backed by Rwanda since the 1990s, when the genocide there spilled over the border into wide parts of eastern Congo.
Under the U.S.-brokered peace deal, Rwanda is supposed to pull out its forces, while Congo must disarm a militia Rwanda views as a threat. The hope is that foreign investment will follow, drawn by gold and some of the world's largest deposits of coltan, a key mineral for electronics. But so far, despite President Trump's claims, the deal hasn't delivered.
CLEMENTINE DE MONTJOYE: My name is Clementine de Montjoye. I'm a senior researcher in the Africa division at Human Rights Watch.
LIVINGSTONE: In July, M23 fighters backed by Rwandan troops killed at least 141 civilians. The real number is likely higher.
DE MONTJOYE: The M23 rounded off an area where farmers were often living in their field during the plowing season and executed men, women and children - children as young as 9 months old.
LIVINGSTONE: Those reports are backed by the United Nations. This week, Bintou Keita, head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, told the Security Council a thousand civilians had been killed there since June.
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BINTOU KEITA: There are discrepancies between the progress we see on paper and the reality we observe on the ground, which continues to be marred with violence.
LIVINGSTONE: Meanwhile, parallel peace talks between the Congolese government and M23, held in Qatar, have also stalled. That progress is critical to making the U.S.-brokered deal stick, Trump's senior Africa adviser, Massad Boulos, told reporters over the weekend.
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MASSAD BOULOS: This is the last piece of the puzzle. As soon as we have a full agreement on that, the whole thing will go into execution mode.
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UNIDENTIFIED M23 RECRUITS: (Singing in non-English language).
LIVINGSTONE: And yet, M23's new recruitment push sends a different message. The U.S. State Department says Rwandan troops are set to begin pulling out in October, but for now, that promise remains just that - a promise.
For NPR News, I'm Emmet Livingstone in Kinshasa.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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