NAIROBI, March 14, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Twenty Burundian troops have been killed in fighting with the M23 armed group and Rwandan troops supporting it in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, military sources told AFP on Thursday.

"We have unfortunately lost about 20 soldiers and about 10 others were injured when the M23 and Rwandan soldiers launched an attack on our positions" on Monday and Tuesday, said a senior Burundian officer who asked not to be named.

The source said the assault struck its troops in Kaziba, around 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Uvira, a key town near the Burundian border.

"The fighting went on for two days... before our soldiers, who had been surrounded, managed to get out," leaving behind them an injured commander, the officer added.

Another source estimated the death toll at between 22 and 25.

The senior officer said lower-intensity clashes continued until Thursday in the area.

In recent months, the M23 launched a lightning offensive in the mineral-rich eastern DRC.

It has pushed the Congolese army out of much of North and South Kivu provinces, raising fears of a wider war drawing in regional powers.

Since October 2023, Burundi has deployed more than 10,000 troops to support the Congolese army under a military cooperation agreement with Kinshasa. Sources had told AFP over recent weeks that some of those soldiers were pulling back, despite official denials.

Burundi has also received tens of thousands of Congolese refugees fleeing the conflict, according to the UN refugee body UNHCR.

Rwanda denies providing the M23 with military support. But a UN experts' report found Kigali maintains around 4,000 troops in the DRC's east to assist the armed group.

On Tuesday, Angola said it would host talks in a bid to halt the fighting, giving a date of March 18 for the beginning of negotiations.