The war raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo

0:00Today on State of the World, the war raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

0:09You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories, up close, where they're happening. I'm Greg Dixon. It is a war for control of some of the world's richest mineral reserves, and the violence of the conflict is heightened by long-standing ethnic and political tensions. In the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, government forces and local militia groups are fighting M-23 rebels, backed by neighboring Rwanda. This is one of the wars President Trump repeatedly claims to have ended. But though a peace deal was signed, the fighting hasn't stopped.

0:46Reporter Emmett Livingstone gives us a glimpse of the conflict from behind the government front lines in eastern Congo. Two wounded soldiers are rushed into a tiny hospital in this remote corner of eastern Congo. One of them, Corporal Jean-Baptiste, screams as nurses probe the deep bullet wound in his thigh. The corporal is one of a steady stream of patients arriving here at this hilltop hospital supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Most are either soldiers or militia fighters allied to the Congolese government, who have been wounded in clashes against M23 rebels. Overwhelmed doctors perform back-to-back surgeries.

1:28The front line is over 30 miles away in the remote highlands of the province of South Kivu. Another soldier arrives on the back of a motorbike with bullet wounds in both legs. The M23 rebels surprised us while we were on patrol, the soldier says. While he's determined to return to the front, the soldier feels bitter about the Congolese army's meagre resources and disarray. The M23 is better armed, he says. On top of that, he says he hasn't been paid in six months. He asked us not to share his name. Speaking to reporters could cost him dearly. Last year, the Rwanda-funded M23 rebels launched a huge offensive in eastern Congo and captured its two largest cities.

2:17Under diplomatic pressure from Washington, Congo and Rwanda signed a peace deal and President Trump declared the war over. But on the ground, the fighting tells a different story. The situation has deteriorated further in the last few months. Fizi, a large territory of over a million people, has become one of the main theatres of the M23 conflict as fighting has spread across the gold-rich highlands, reaching remote villages and valleys.

2:52Congolese troops are present, but they're vastly outnumbered by their allies, local militias known as Wazalendo, patriots in Swahili.

3:04In a village of mud huts, Wazalendo fighters sing about recent battles against the M23, brandishing their beat-up AK-47s. Kinshasa's decision to arm them is deeply controversial. Organised along ethnic lines, they are notorious for committing atrocities.

3:27Pascal says he's fighting for his country. We're only sharing his first name. Speaking out carries risk. But he blames the violence squarely on ethnic Congolese Tutsis. Suspicion of the Tutsi community runs deep. After the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Rwanda invaded Congo and supported local militias. Today, the M23 rebel group is led by Congolese Tutsis, which has led many to unfairly view the entire community as enemies. Pascal says he doesn't think peaceable living between communities will be possible again. It's an ominous sign for future stability in places like Fizi, which has a large Congolese Tutsi population.

4:14Across the region, hundreds of thousands have been displaced, forced from village to village as they flee clashes, exchanging farm work for shelter. Congo is one of the poorest countries in the world, and in remote rural areas, villagers live a life of almost pure subsistence. Even over-the-counter painkillers are out of reach for the vast majority of villagers. Civilians, as ever, bear the heaviest cost, and especially the women.

4:47Fatuma is cooking inside a tiny mud hut. Like nearly every person in this story, we're only sharing her first name for her own protection. She fled her home in the Highlands in November. She says her husband was killed in the clashes, and she was raped as she escaped the fighting. Hers is a depressingly common story.

5:10In another nearby village named Namisha, Chief Etabi Chonga Songo says that they're struggling to cope with the waves of fleeing people.

5:22Songa said he had hoped security would improve with the intervention of the US president, but he's been disappointed by the continued fighting.

5:32For most in Fizi, there's a feeling of total abandonment and of desperation for a solution that never seems to come. For NPR News, I'm Emmett Livingstone, Infizi.

5:53That's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening.