African leaders trying to solve the fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo between the M23 armed group and Congolese government forces were on Sunday waiting for a response to their call for military chiefs from both sides to thrash out a peace deal.
In a final communique from their two-day summit in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, two dozen heads of state from eastern and southern African countries urged the commanders to meet within five days and provide technical details for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
They also called for an opening of humanitarian corridors to evacuate the dead and injured.
The moves came after a day of talks involving the Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Congolese counterpart Félix Tshisekedi.
Kagame, whose government denies backing the M23 group, attended the meeting while Tshisekedi joined via video call.
In the prelude to the summit, M23 fighters took Goma, the biggest city of eastern DRC and capital of North Kivu province. They have continued to push into neighbouring South Kivu.
At least 3,000 people have been killed and as many injured during the fighting with several thousand fleeing the clashes, according to the UN.
Assistance
A UN report said last year that Rwanda had around 4,000 troops in the DRC and were profiting from the illegal flow of gold and coltan – a mineral used in the construction of mobile phones and laptops.
Rwanda accuses the DRC of sheltering the FDLR, an armed group created by ethnic Hutus who massacred Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide
UN rights chief Volker Turk warned on Friday: “If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come for the people of the eastern DRC but also beyond the country’s borders.”
The latest initiative to halt the conflict took place under the aegis of the East African Community and 16-member Southern African Development Community. Since the M23 re-emerged in 2021, peace talks hosted by both Angola and Kenya have failed, and multiple ceasefires have collapsed.
“We call on all parties to actualise the ceasefire, and specifically on the M23 to halt further advancement and the armed forces of DRC to cease all retaliatory measures,” said Kenyan President William Ruto, who chairs the eight-nation East African Community (EAC).
Kagame and Tshisekedi were supposed to meet in December in Angola and sign a peace agreement. But the meeting was cancelled. Both parties blamed each other for the failed talks.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged both parties to work together for a ceasefire deal. “The conflict risks engulfing the entire region,” he warned. “The situation is at a pivotal moment.”
