Fighting resumes in eastern DRC in violation of ceasefire deal

Fighting between the Congolese army and the paramilitary AFC-M23 has resumed in eastern DRC, despite the ceasefire proposed last week by Angola’s President João Lourenço.

Both sides accuse the other of violations. Kinshasa says the rebels are looking to strengthen their position while continuing diplomatic talks.

Kifara Kapenda Kyk’y is mayor of the city of Uvira:

“The Congolese government is very respectful, since it is the one that really needs peace, while the rebels do not need peace; they need to conquer more and do nothing in the areas they occupy except loot for Rwanda.”

But M23 categorically rejects the accusations. They say that government forces are behind the hostilities, citing strikes and ground offensives targeting their positions and surrounding areas.

“Even our entry into Goma is because Kinshasa never wanted to respect the ceasefire,” M23 coordinator Corneille Nangaa told Africanews.

“The ceasefire is being violated because it is the strategy of the Kinshasa regime to continue the war. Don’t forget, war is a business for the Kinshasa regime. That’s where they steal, that’s where they embezzle.”

These irreconcilable versions are fueling a climate of mistrust and further weakening an already tense truce.

‘Help us!’

On the ground, civilians are paying a heavy price. Several families have found refuge in this makeshift camp in Uvira, plunged into a new spiral of uncertainty.

“There are ceasefires every time, but no solution, and the war continues. They continue to fight. They clashed in Lemera yesterday,” says Devota Mwadjuma, who’s been displaced by the war.

“Help us! We ask the authorities to sit down together to find a solution, such as stopping the war, so that we can return home, continue farming, live with our children and regain our peaceful lives,” says Bernadette Shalulo, another refugee from the fighting.

Over the weekend, Congolese-aligned Wazalendo forces clashed with M23-backed Twirwaneho fighters, according to civil society groups.

Diplomatic efforts are ongoing, but on the ground in eastern DRC, peace remains fragile.