East African leaders on Sunday announced peace talks in a bid to stabilise the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where M23 rebels clashed with troops just north of its key city of Goma over the weekend.
The seven-nation East African Community (EAC) stated that it would hold a “peace dialogue” on eastern DRC on November 21 in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
On Saturday, the group accused the Congolese army of retaliating with “barbarian bombings” – killing 15 civilians, including two children. Al Jazeera was unable to independently confirm the death toll.
The latest violence comes one day after Kenyan troops were deployed to eastern DRC, as part of a peacekeeping operation from the EAC bloc.
A mostly Congolese Tutsi group, the M23 first leapt to prominence in 2012 when it briefly captured Goma before being driven out and going underground.
The group re-emerged in late 2021, taking up arms again on claims that the DRC had failed to honour a promise to integrate them into the army, among other grievances.
The M23’s resurgence has cratered relations between the DRC and its smaller neighbour Rwanda, which Kinshasa accuses of backing the militia.
Despite official denials from Kigali, an unpublished report for the United Nations seen by AFP in August pointed to Rwandan involvement with the M23.
Kinshasa expelled Rwanda’s ambassador at the end of last month, as the M23 captured more territory, while also recalling its envoy from Kigali.
The ratcheting tensions have spurred a bout of diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis.
Angolan President Joao Lourenco met Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa on Saturday, for example, after visiting Rwanda the previous day.
On Sunday, Kenya’s ex-President Uhuru Kenyatta, the EAC’s mediator for the situation, was also due in Kinshasa for talks.
The EAC on Sunday said it would hold talks aimed at bringing peace to eastern DRC in Nairobi this month. But it did not specify stakeholders in the talks nor how long they were scheduled to last.
The announcement comes just days after Kenyan troops began to arrive in Goma over the weekend as part of a regional peacekeeping force established by the EAC in April.
Kenya’s Parliament approved the deployment of about 900 soldiers for an initial period of six months. While the force will be under Kenyan command, its total size and scope remain unclear.
In August, Burundi also sent troops to join the regional force in DRC.
Earlier this month, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC has withdrawn troops from the eastern military base of Rumangabo, ceding ground in the battle against the M23.
©aljazeera
