- The Rwanda-backed M23 controls large areas of the eastern DRC and has been a major player in violence and instability that has long wracked the mineral-rich region, blighting the lives of civilians and hindering development.
Teenagers armed with Kalashnikovs guard a gold mine in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo where local militias milk the conflict between government forces and the M23 armed group for guns and profit.
The Rwanda-backed M23 controls large areas of the eastern DRC and has been a major player in violence and instability that has long wracked the mineral-rich region, blighting the lives of civilians and hindering development.
But the region is fraught with various armed groups and militias, further complicating efforts to halt the conflict between Kinshasa and the M23.
In December, the anti-government group launched an offensive against the city of Uvira in South Kivu province, triggering a chaotic withdrawal of government forces.
Weapons and fighters poured into neighbouring Tanganyika province, which had itself only just emerged from a brutal communal conflict.
Since then, in the small mining village of Mwala, around a hundred heavily armed militiamen, most originally from South Kivu, have been calling the shots.
The fighters, some very young, say they are paid between $100 and $150 a month to ensure the "security" of Mwala's artisanal gold mine, which is run by a Chinese company.
They call themselves "wazalendo"("patriots" in Swahili) -- the nickname given to local militiamen supporting government forces in their fight against the M23.
"I joined the wazalendo self-defence force to defend my country," said Claude, the head of the Mwala militia group.
Claude said he had been "at the front several times" and some of his men spoke of fighting in Minembwe, the scene of the most intense clashes between government and M23 forces in recent months.
But Mwala residents, contacted by phone, said they mainly know the militiamen because they extort money from villagers.
- Machine guns replace bows and arrows -
The Mwala militiamen's base is a handful of huts made of wood and foliage on land littered with empty liquor sachets surrounded by parched scrubland.
The young fighters strike combat poses holding their assault rifles when they see cameras.
"We're hungry, we sleep badly, we buy the weapons and ammunition ourselves, all these efforts are ignored by our authorities," Claude said.
Tanganyika is emerging from a violent dispute between people from the Pygmy and Bantu communities that killed thousands between 2013 and 2019.
But the battle to push back the M23 has given local militias a new lease of life.
Some have been officially integrated as Congolese army auxiliaries and are undergoing military training.
But most -- like Claude's group -- have just proclaimed themselves "wazalendo".
After Uvira fell to the M23, retreating government soldiers ditched weapons, uniforms and ammunition along the road.
Some were forcibly disarmed by local militias, who claimed they were ready to fight in their place.
Where once village militias carried bows and arrows, now they are armed with Cold War-era machine guns and even rocket launchers, according to several security and local sources.
"A lot of money has really been injected here since 2015 to put an end to the conflict. Unfortunately, the war against the M23 broke out," said Tresor Ngabo, representative of the national disarmament and reintegration programme in Tanganyika.
Despite the end of the intercommunal violence seven years ago, "conflicts persist, but this time these people are well armed, and if there are new clashes, it will be chaotic," Ngabo warned.
- Tolls and ransom -
The discovery of lithium -- essential for producing electric cars and with demand expected to double by 2030 -- in Tanganyika province has raised hopes of an economic boost.
But serious doubts remain about foreign companies' willingness to invest in a volatile security context.
China has poured investment into the DRC in recent decades and Chinese companies now run many of the mining operations in the southeast.
But the militias have found ways to take a cut.
As well as providing security for the mining sites, the fighters have imposed tolls on nearby roads.
The Bishambuke militia -- to which the Mwala group is affiliated -- demands around $1,500 a month from companies that go through its territory, according to a local mining operator.
It is also known for involvement in kidnappings of Chinese nationals for ransom.
Mwala lies about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Kalemie, the provincial capital that sits on Lake Tanganyika's shores.
By Congolese standards, it is far from isolated, but even here, the army -- poorly equipped and notorious for indiscipline -- struggles to keep the militias in line.
Now well-armed, some even engage in clashes with troops.
Kalemie is still struggling from the economic impact of the communal violence and now has to cope with tens of thousands of people who fled fighting in South Kivu.
At nightfall, gunfire crackles in the outlying neighbourhoods as heavily armed deserters break into homes and hold up their occupants.
Local authorities and civil society agree that security force operations have led to a relative lull recently.
But insecurity persists and trust in the government armed forces "has disappeared", Chirac Issa, a civil society representative, said.
He warned that the issue of armed groups in the province was a "time bomb".
"Even if the war ends, would the government be able to collect all the weapons? The answer is 'no'," he said.