(MENAFN) More than 700 Congolese have crossed into Rwanda to escape renewed clashes between the M23 rebel group and government forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials reported Friday, just a day after leaders of both countries signed a US-brokered peace deal aimed at ending decades of conflict.

The majority of the refugees are women and children, according to Phanuel Sindayiheba, a local official in Rwanda’s Rusizi district, which borders Congo. Refugees are being temporarily accommodated at a transit center, where they are provided with basic necessities such as food and bedding.

Social media footage showed long lines of displaced people entering Rwanda through the Bugarama-Kamanyola border post, some carrying belongings and livestock. Local reports indicated that fighting intensified Friday morning near Luvungi in South Kivu province, prompting large-scale displacement.

According to local news portal Une, M23 rebels launched coordinated attacks on government positions at dawn, raising concerns just one day after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame signed the Washington peace agreement.

M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka posted on social media platform X that Congolese forces and allies targeted “densely populated areas in North Kivu and South Kivu, using fighter jets, drones, and heavy artillery.” He also alleged that two bombs fired from neighboring Burundi struck near Kamanyola on Thursday evening, killing four and seriously injuring two.

Rwanda has faced accusations of supporting M23 rebels, a claim that Kigali has consistently denied.

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