Clashes rage in DR Congo’s South Kivu as peace talks with M23 stall

KINSHASA, DR Congo

Fighting was reported Monday in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province, despite ongoing peace talks in Qatar.

Witnesses said a group of young volunteers backed by the Congolese army was attacked in the mountainous, resource-rich Fizi region by Twirwaneho and Red Tabara rebels, who are affiliated with the M23 group.

“It was the Twirwaneho who came to attack the Patriots and the Congolese armed forces here … They are burning houses, and the fighting has been ongoing since 6 a.m.,” local resident Mauridi Mtoca told Anadolu.

The violence came as Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has agreed to sit at the negotiating table with the M23 rebels. Delegations from both sides are currently in Doha for peace talks.

Despite both parties issuing statements calling for a ceasefire, clashes have continued in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri, with M23 rebels seizing an increasing number of villages.

On Sunday, M23 forces seized the town of Lunyasenge on the western shore of Lake Edward in eastern Congo. The fighting left 17 people dead, including seven Congolese soldiers.

Col. Mak Hazukay, spokesman for the Congolese army in the region, condemned the M23 attacks on Sunday, calling them “a deliberate and blatant violation of the ceasefire and all measures put in place following the ongoing talks in Doha, Qatar, and Washington, United States.”

Hazukay warned that the army reserves “the right to respond in all directions if the threat from the rebels and their Rwandan allies continues.”

M23, central to the conflict in eastern Congo, has stepped up its offensive since December, capturing key towns including Goma and Bukavu.

Kinshasa and others accuse neighboring Rwanda of supporting M23 -- a claim Kigali denies.

In March, Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame agreed to a ceasefire during talks mediated by the Emir of Qatar in Doha.

In April, Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and her Rwandan counterpart, Olivier Nduhungirehe, signed a US-brokered declaration in Washington. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also attended the signing ceremony.

According to the UN, more than 7.8 million people have been displaced in the conflict. In April, the UN Human Rights Council said 602 people were victims of extrajudicial or summary executions in North and South Kivu in just two months.