UPDATE - M23 rebels, DR Congo to hold fresh talks in Doha amid new clashes

ADDS REMARKS BY CONGOLESE COMMUNICATION MINISTER AND RWANDA GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – The M23 rebel group, which is at the center of the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, said Tuesday that they are set to hold fresh talks with Kinshasa in Doha in the coming days in the face of recent fierce fighting with government forces.

Bertrand Bisimwa, deputy coordinator of the AFC/M23 group, told reporters in North Kivu province’s capital Goma that the “discussions will focus on the latest developments in the security situation on the ground.”

“We are preparing to go to Doha,” he said, adding their negotiators will leave any time after being urgently invited by Qatar, the mediator.

Bisimwa said what was initially agreed on with Kinshasa in Doha, including a prisoner exchange, is yet to be implemented.

Last month, the Congolese government and the M23 signed a peace framework agreement in Doha brokered by Qatar.

It followed the Declaration of Principles ceasefire deal signed by the two sides in July.

But fighting continues between government forces and the M23 rebels, with each side accusing the other of violating the ceasefire.

Kinshasa maintains that it will not cede any territory in the Doha negotiations, according to Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya.

In a recent press briefing, Muyaya stressed that the country's territorial integrity is non-negotiable as the government remains committed to restoring peace in the east.

At least 74 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and 83 wounded as a result of recent clashes in eastern South Kivu province, a report issued Monday by the UN humanitarian coordinator in the country showed.

The fighting reportedly continued since Dec. 4, when Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame signed a "historic" peace and economic agreement in Washington, DC aimed at putting an end to the fighting in eastern Congo.

Tshisekedi on Monday accused Rwanda of violating the peace agreement, which was brokered by US President Donald Trump.

-Congo says Rwanda ‘seeks to regionalize conflict’

Muyaya reiterated his government’s claims Tuesday, saying that the humanitarian situation is alarming in South Kivu following the Rwanda bombings and its hostile actions.

“Not only is Rwanda deliberately violating the Washington agreement, but it also seeks to regionalize the conflict, particularly by attacking Burundi,” he said in a post on the US social media company X’s platform.

Burundi on Monday accused neighboring Rwanda of carrying out attacks on its territory.

Burundi’s Foreign Minister Edouard Bizimana warned that “any attack targeting Burundian citizens or soldiers deployed in the DRC will never be tolerated.”

Calling on the Congolese population to remain vigilant, Muyaya appealed to the US mediator to put an end to what he said is “Rwanda's unnecessarily belligerent actions.”

But in response, Rwanda government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said: “Enough with the lies. The DRC cannot be the ceasefire monitor when you are in reality violating the ceasefire and have no intention of respecting the Washington Accords the DRC just signed.”

The most recent stage of the conflict erupted in 2021, when the M23 rebel group resurfaced and launched an offensive against Congolese government forces.

Since intensifying its offensive last year, the rebels have seized significant territory in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.

The UN, Kinshasa and others accuse neighboring Rwanda of supporting the M23, which Kigali denies.

The International Contact Group for the Great Lakes (ICG) chaired by Germany and including the US, European Union and UK, issued a statement Tuesday expressing "profound concern" regarding renewed violence in eastern Congo.

The ICG urged the M23 and the Rwandan army to "immediately halt" offensive operations in eastern Congo.