Congo, M23 commit to work towards peace after Doha talks
Reuters The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels on Wednesday pledged in statements released after talks in Qatar to work towards peace after violence flared in January, raising fears of a wider regional war. Their agreement to the text raised a glimmer of hope the latest cycle of violence in a decades-long conflict […]
Congo and M23 rebels plan to hold first direct talks on 9th April
Reuters The Congo Government and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels aim to hold direct talks on 9th April, sources from both camps said on Tuesday, a potential boost to Qatar’s efforts to end the Central African country’s worst fighting in decades. The meeting in Doha would be the two sides’ first direct negotiations since M23 fighters captured […]
Qatar hosts talks between Congo and Rwanda, also meets with rebels, sources say
Reuters Qatari mediators hosted a second round of talks on Friday between Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and separately met representatives of the Rwandan-backed rebellion waging an insurgency in eastern Congo, four sources told Reuters. Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame met last week in Doha for their first talks […]
Congo rebels dismiss ceasefire calls, capture strategic town
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo Reuters The leader of Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo said on Thursday that a call by Kinshasa and Kigali for an immediate ceasefire “doesn’t concern us” as his forces pushed deeper into Congolese territory by capturing the strategic town of Walikale. Walikale is the farthest west the rebels have […]
M23 rebels enter another eastern Congo town, defying calls for ceasefire
Reuters Rwanda-backed M23 rebels pressed deeper into Congolese territory a day after Congo and Rwanda’s presidents called for an immediate ceasefire, entering the outskirts of the town of Walikale late on Wednesday, residents told Reuters. Gunfire was ringing out from near the town’s Nyabangi neighbourhood, said Walikale resident Janvier Kabutwa. An army source, who asked […]
Congo PM demands “withdrawal of Rwandan troops” after M23 reach Bukavu suburbs
Reuters Chaotic scenes unfolded in the eastern Congo city of Bukavu on Saturday after M23 rebels reached its outskirts, while Congo’s Prime Minister declined to comment on a threat by Uganda’s army chief that raised fears of a spiral into a wider regional war. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have been pushing south towards Bukavu, the […]
Tshisekedi to join regional summit on eastern Congo conflict
Reuters Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi will take part in a joint summit of eastern and southern African leaders starting on Friday to discuss the conflict in its east, where Rwandan-backed rebels are seizing more territory. The high-stakes summit in Tanzania could bring together Tshisekedi and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who is […]
Having seized Goma, Congo’s M23 rebels want to show they can govern
Reuters When M23 rebels swept into the Congolese city of Goma this week, world powers urged them to immediately withdraw. Instead, the Rwanda-backed insurgents are intent on showing they can restore order and govern. On Thursday, power and mobile data services, which had been down for days, were back up. The border with Rwanda, a […]
Rwanda-backed rebels bed down in Congo’s Goma and push south for further gains
Reuters The United Nations expressed deep concern at reports of M23 rebels and Rwandan troops advancing south towards the Congolese city of Bukavu on Thursday, as the militants sought also to assert their control over east Congo’s largest city Goma. The Rwandan-backed insurgents’ seizure of Goma this week and ongoing offensive southwards are the biggest […]
Members of shuttered Rwandan churches gather in homes as leaders quietly protest
Kigali, Rwanda RNS On a recent Sunday morning, a dozen people congregated in a home in the Nyabisindu neighbourhood of Rwanda’s capital to ponder their next steps after the government shuttered numerous churches for noncompliance with health and safety regulations. “We are appalled by the government’s denial of our freedom to worship our God,” said […]