The latest ceasefire between Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and Congolese government forces has collapsed barely 48 hours after it was brokered by Angola’s President João Lourenço, with heavy fighting reported on the outskirts of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.
The DRC government accused Rwanda of violating the agreement within hours of its signing, citing drone surveillance footage showing fresh Rwandan Defence Force deployments across the border. Rwanda denied the allegations, blaming “provocative” actions by the FDLR militia.
The UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO reported at least 23 civilian casualties in the latest escalation, with over 150,000 people displaced from communities south of Goma in what the UN refugee agency called “a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian catastrophe.”
The East African Community has called an emergency summit, but diplomatic sources say Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has signalled he will not attend unless the DRC agrees to direct negotiations with M23 — a condition Kinshasa has repeatedly rejected as legitimizing an armed insurgency.
