Democratic Republic Of Congo

Leaders from the main Southern and Eastern Africa political blocs had met on Monday to advance a plan aimed at securing a ceasefire in a conflict rooted in the long fallout from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and competition for control of mineral riches.

The expanded panel will support former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in navigating the complex and volatile conflict that has triggered a severe humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo.

Health officials said in February that the condition was suspected to be either malaria or food poisoning.

The medical humanitarian organisation called on all state and non-state armed groups in Ituri to spare civilians as well as healthcare facilities, which are sanctuaries essential to the survival of local communities.

Angola's presidency announced it would "free itself from the responsibility of mediator" in order to focus more on broader African Union priorities.

The prospect of a ceasefire in the strategic town of Walikale, which the M23 rebels captured last week, had briefly fuelled hopes of reviving stalled diplomatic efforts to resolve eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's biggest conflict in decades.

Qatar's mediation efforts have brought Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the table, leveraging strong economic ties to facilitate crucial peace negotiations.

The mineral-rich eastern DRC remains a focal point of conflict, with various armed groups vying for control over resources such as coltan, tin, tantalum, and gold.

It would have been their first direct engagement with DR Congo's government after President Felix Tshisekedi reversed his longstanding refusal to speak to the rebels.

Walikale is the farthest west the rebels have reached in an advance that has already overrun eastern Congo's two largest cities since January.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been internally displaced, while more than 100,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries in less than three months due to fighting between the M23 group and the Congolese army, according to the UNHCR.

Burundi has received nearly 66,000 Congolese refugees, with the number of new arrivals doubling in recent weeks.

One of the main topics will be AFC/M23’s demand for direct talks with the Congolese government.

Mahmoud said the Luanda process has contributed significantly to creating conditions for dialogue and regional and international engagement.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame had called on Tuesday for an immediate ceasefire after a surprise meeting in Qatar's capital Doha, their first direct talks this year.

Walikale, which is in an area rich in minerals including tin, is the farthest west M23 has reached during its unprecedented advance this year.

At Tuesday's meeting in Qatar, Tshisekedi and Kagame "agreed on the need to continue the discussions initiated in Doha in order to establish solid foundations for lasting peace," the joint statement said.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) urged a broader and more inclusive panel of peace facilitators—effectively pushing back on an earlier list circulated by President William Ruto.

Many residents of Goma expressed confusion over what they saw as the rebel group's disproportionate response to European sanctions.

According to their joint communique, the opening of the two airports in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces will facilitate the withdrawal of SADC troops (SAMIDRC), allow freedom of movement for humanitarian agencies as well as uninterrupted evacuation from the conflict zones.

The Congo River Alliance said in a statement that the EU's actions were aimed at "obstructing the much-anticipated talks".

The conflict in eastern DRC, he noted, continues to "mutate into other forms of threats to human security and dignity," including widespread sexual violence, the illicit trafficking of natural resources, and the erosion of state authority by foreign and local armed groups.

Tshisekedi faces an insurgency by M23 rebels in east DR Congo and his government plans to send a delegation to peace talks in Angola on Tuesday.

One of the key issue that will be discussed is the appointment of the three co-facilitators named by President William Ruto to push the peace processes forward.

President Felix Tshisekedi, who has long ruled out dialogue with M23, had been considering changing his position after a string of defeats.

While the group’s spokesperson, Lawrence Kanyuka, stated on Friday that its representatives would attend the meeting, it has not yet confirmed who will be engaging with the DRC government in what will be their first-ever direct talks.

Under Mobutu's successors, Laurent and Joseph Kabila, the army was infiltrated by Rwanda, among other nations.

Tshisekedi's government has so far not committed publicly, but three government sources told Reuters this week he was seriously considering sending a delegation.

Rebels of the M23 group have seized east Congo's two biggest cities since January in an escalation of a long-running conflict rooted in the spillover into Congo of Rwanda's 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and the struggle for control of Congo's vast mineral resources.

M23 want the mediation team to formally involve all stakeholders in its initiative and its terms of reference citing knowledge of the mediation offer through social media.

The decision announced in a communique further ordered the troops to begin their phased withdrawal from Goma.

Congo's government has said at least 7,000 people have died in the fighting since January. At least 600,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since November, according to the U.N. humanitarian affairs office.

The M23 rebellion, which has intensified in recent months, has triggered massive displacements and deepened the humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo.

President Felix Tshisekedi has recently accused him of sponsoring the M23 rebels who have seized east Congo's two biggest cities since January.

The M23 rebel group, believed to be backed by Rwanda, has seized swathes of mineral-rich eastern Congo since the start of the year.

The likelihood of their arrest remains uncertain, given the military's struggles against the well-equipped rebels.

The proposed agreement would give U.S. companies rights to mine strategic resources, including cobalt and uranium while providing the Congolese government with military support.

A report from the DRC Education Cluster, which includes Save the Children on Friday, reveals that school attendance has plummeted due to intensified fighting since January.

The group called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to reject what they referred to as "erroneous and malicious interpretations" of the situation.

M23 fighters raided CBCA Ndosho Hospital and Heal Africa Hospital during the night of February 28, taking 116 and 15 patients respectively.

The letter, sent by Aaron Poynton, a US businessman and lobbyist tasked by Kinshasa last June with organising a roundtable for US and Congolese business and political leaders, describes Congo's minerals as a strategic asset for US economic and security interests.

As the city of Bukavu tries to recover from the violence, human rights groups and medical organisations are calling for immediate international assistance.

Should a previously unknown pathogen be identified as the cause, health authorities will need to increase measures to contain the spread of the disease.

Reports indicate that the M23 has expanded its control of mining sites in the region thereby increasing its monthly taxes.

The finger-pointing over Thursday's incident has further inflamed tensions in eastern Congo, where a rebel advance this year has drawn in neighbouring armies, raising fears of a regional war.

He will be deputised by Dunia Masumbuko Bwenge, Vice-Governor in charge of Political, Administrative, and Legal Affairs) and Gishinge Gasinzira Juvénal – (Vice-Governor in charge of Economic, Financial, and Development Affairs).

This high-level engagement comes at a time when violence in eastern DRC has intensified, with Congolese Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka revealing at the Human Rights Council in Geneva that over 7,000 people have been killed since January. 

People ran through the streets, some bleeding and carrying limp bodies, video showed. Residents said they saw dead bodies, but there was no immediate information on the number of casualties.

As of February 16, there have been 431 cases and 53 deaths in two outbreaks in remote villages in separate health zones in Equateur province, the WHO said in a bulletin. 

The defence experts warned that the situation in eastern DRC has deteriorated drastically since the Joint EAC-SADC Summit on February 8, 2025.

Britain said it would also coordinate with partners on potential new sanctions and suspend future defence training assistance to Rwanda.

The United Nations has warned of surging child recruitment, abductions, killings and sexual violence as the rebels, known as M23, press on after seizing more territory in eastern Congo than ever before.

The other facilitators are Nigeria's former president Olusegun Obasanjo and Ethiopia's former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

According to Kabila, the unrest could not solely be blamed on the advances of the M23 armed movement or tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali. Instead, he argued that the root causes of the crisis lay in deeper political and governance failures.

The rebel group also expressed gratitude to regional leaders and international partners for their continuous efforts in facilitating a political resolution to the ongoing conflict.

Tshisekedi told a meeting of the ruling Sacred Union coalition not to be distracted by internal quarrels.

The French-drafted U.N. resolution "strongly condemns the ongoing offensive and advances of the M23 in North-Kivu and South Kivu" and demands that M23 immediately stop its hostilities and withdraw.

This meeting marks a renewed effort by regional actors to contain the escalating violence in the eastern DRC, which has seen an increase in clashes involving armed groups, displacements, and cross-border tensions.

Fighting with the M23 has continued outside the town, in the southern part of the wider Lubero territory, for the past 72 hours, Congolese army spokesperson Sylvain Ekenge told Reuters.

Residents and officials described scenes of looting, bodies lying in the street, and government soldiers commandeering boats to flee across Lake Tanganyika. The local prison was also emptied, they said.

The deployment follows recent statements by Gen. Kainerugaba, who last week threatened to capture Bunia in response to alleged attacks on the Bahima ethnic group.

Burundi has had soldiers in eastern Congo for years, initially to hunt down Burundian rebels there, but more recently, to aid in the fight against M23.

Three Congolese military sources said the decision to retreat was made to avoid the bloodshed that accompanied the fall of Goma, eastern Congo's largest city, in late January, during which about 3,000 people were killed, according to the United Nations.

She also voiced concern for journalists, human rights defenders and members of civil society organisations who are seeking protection from reprisals by M23.

Before the conflict's latest escalation, the education system in eastern DRC was already under severe strain due to the displacement of millions.

A passenger boat from Bukavu to Goma left on Tuesday morning, operator Lweni Ndale said, adding it was the first he had sent since late January, shortly after Goma fell to M23.

M23 said its forces moved in to "assist the population" after the city was "abandoned by Kinshasa's coalition forces."

Eyewitnesses said they reached Bukavu's northern suburb Bagira on Friday evening but did not enter the city centre.

M23 rebels have been pushing south towards Bukavu, the second-largest city in eastern DRC, since they seized Goma, the largest city, at the end of last month.

The Congolese army confirmed that M23 fighters had taken control of Kavumu airport, north of Bukavu, and that Congolese troops had pulled back with their equipment.

Some displaced individuals reported receiving evacuation orders, while others claimed they had been advised against leaving. Many, having endured years of hardship in the camps, expressed a strong desire to leave.

The summit is expected to issue further directives to facilitate a sustainable ceasefire between the warring parties under the two peace processes, as well as establish mechanisms to improve humanitarian access.

It dismissed claims that the city had been taken over by 150 armed groups, stating instead that “Goma and its surrounding areas have been liberated and secured by the M23.”

The night before, they carried out an attack on a local camp for internally displaced people before being repelled by the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as MONUSCO.

Heavy shelling was reported along the frontline on Tuesday morning, rebel, military and local sources told Reuters.

Addressing allegations of atrocities at Munzenze Central Prison, M23 distanced itself from the incident, claiming the violence occurred before its forces entered Goma.

South Africa is believed to have around 3,000 troops deployed in Congo, both as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission and a Southern African regional force tasked with helping Congo's army combat the M23 insurgency.

Despite announcing a unilateral ceasefire, the Tutsi-led rebels have continued to march south towards the capital of South Kivu, Bukavu.

He proposed the formation of a Joint Technical Team under the regional secretariats of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to help coordinate these initiatives.

Dozens of countries at the meeting condemned rights violations in Congo including several African states. Washington, formerly a vocal council member, left its seat empty after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. was leaving.

During a separate meeting on Friday, ministers had urged all armed groups to lay down their weapons unconditionally.

Vaccination programmes were partially restored on February 5, after the M23 declared a ceasefire, however, the situation remains "tense and volatile", he added.

The closure has severely disrupted the delivery of food, water, and medical aid for up to two million people.

The summit acknowledged the complexities arising from the parallel peace initiatives and called for their consolidation into a single, jointly managed process.

This comes just a day after Kinshasa sent its ambassador to Botswana and SADC to the foreign ministers' preparatory meeting.

The DRC also seeks reparations, the withdrawal of Rwandan troops, and an end to Rwanda’s alleged support for M23.

Medical facilities are struggling to cope with the influx of casualties.