Congolese government has rejected any direct talks with M23, while the armed group says it has no plans to withdraw
Fighting resumed between troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and M23 rebels in the country’s east on Friday, as the armed group said a ceasefire deal between African leaders “doesn’t really concern” them.
The Tutsi-led M23 group is waging its most serious offensive in eastern DRC since 2012, further destabilising an area where multiple armed groups have wrangled over land and resources for decades.
The ceasefire deal brokered between African leaders in the Angolan capital Luanda on Wednesday called for the withdrawal of the rebels from “occupied zones” and their “withdrawal to their initial positions”.
But Lawrence Kanyuka, the political spokesman for M23, told the AFP news agency on Thursday that: “M23 has seen the document on social media … There was nobody in the summit [from M23] so it doesn’t really concern us … Normally when there is a ceasefire, it is between the two warring sides.”
According to Wednesday’s deal, if the rebels refuse to stop fighting, the east African regional force being deployed in Goma “will use force” to push them out.
Thousands have been displaced in recent weeks as DRC’s army has struggled to stop the M23’s advance. Many have sought refuge in and around Goma, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the front line, which the rebels briefly seized in 2012 before they were pushed back the following year.
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