UN vehicles in eastern Congo. According to the United States, about 130 different armed groups are active here.
(dpa) The rebels of the M23 movement in eastern Congo have declared their readiness to withdraw from conquered areas. The group was referring on Tuesday to an agreement reached by Congo-Kinshasa, Rwanda and Burundi last month on a plan to end violence in the conflict between M23 and Congolese government forces. The rebel movement said she was ready to begin the withdrawal, although she was not involved in the summit. She called for a meeting to discuss the modalities.
The rebels did not initially recognize the results of the meeting in the Angolan capital Luanda. In the communiqué signed there, the M23 movement was threatened with an offensive if the rebels did not withdraw from the positions they have held since March.
The M23 movement is made up of former Congolese army soldiers who formed a rebel group in 2012. The army was able to defeat the rebels in 2013. Since the end of March this year, however, there have been renewed attacks by the rebel movement on civilians and military installations in eastern Congo, as well as skirmishes with the Congolese army. Since the end of October, violence between the army and the M23 rebel group in eastern Congo has escalated again.
Most recently, the military blamed M23 for killing civilians in North Kivu province, and the government said more than 270 people died in the heavy fighting last week. In a phone call on Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame to end his country’s support for M23. Rwanda denies involvement.
According to the United States, around 130 different armed groups are said to be active in eastern Congo-Kinshasa; many of them are concerned with controlling the valuable natural resources.