In eastern Congo, Burundi's reported troop withdrawal and Uganda's apparent unwillingness to intervene against the AFC/M23 rebel group mitigate the risk of an interstate conflict in the immediate future. However, a large-scale westward offensive by the AFC/M23 would reignite this threat as it could prompt an intervention from southern African countries in support of Congo. On Feb. 16, the Alliance for the Congo River (AFC), a political-military alliance led by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, captured the city of Bukavu, the provincial capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's eastern South Kivu province. Congolese and Burundian troops had already vacated the city on the evening of Feb. 14 after the rebels seized Bukavu airport, which is located 30 kilometers to the north, earlier that day. Disagreements between the Congolese military and pro-government wazalendo militias, who reportedly opposed withdrawing from Bukavu, resulted in clashes between the two sides on Feb. 17-18...
