DR Congo ceasefire mission heads east amid abuse claims

A mission to verify a fragile ceasefire between the Congolese army and the M23 armed group deployed to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, as the two sides traded accusations of abuses and ceasefire violations.

The mission includes representatives of the Congolese government and M23, as well as observers from member countries of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. UN and government sources said it was flown by UN helicopters to Minembwe in South Kivu province, which has seen intense clashes in recent months.

South Kivu governor Jean-Jacques Purusi told AFP the mission will also travel to Uvira, from which M23 withdrew in January, and to Kalehe, where fighting has been reported in recent weeks. Neither DR Congo nor M23 authorities had reacted to the mission announcement.

The Swiss government said on Sunday that DR Congo and M23 had agreed to a fresh roadmap for peace talks after negotiations in Switzerland. It also said the mission would verify violations of a previous ceasefire agreement signed in Doha in July 2025.

Rwanda has long denied direct support for M23. Rwandan President Paul Kagame did not address the new agreement during a Monday press conference in Kigali, but said previous agreements had failed because they did not tackle what he called the root cause of the conflict: the continued presence in eastern DR Congo of Hutu militants linked to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The Congolese government said on Monday that it condemned alleged crimes and serious human rights violations by M23 in territories under the group's control. It accused M23 of killing more than 300 people in June and July.

An M23 spokesperson, writing on X, accused government forces of launching a deadly artillery attack on a village near Minembwe. Both sides have regularly accused each other of abuses and ceasefire violations, which are often unverifiable by independent parties.

DR Congo and M23 agreed in April to facilitate humanitarian aid and release prisoners after talks in Switzerland. An initial group of prisoners was handed over to M23 by the Congolese government earlier this month.

The latest closed-door talks ran from August 17 to August 21 and included representatives from the United States, Qatar, Switzerland, the African Union Commission and Togo, which served as African Union mediator. The Swiss government said the two sides agreed on the importance of a standardised method for reporting alleged ceasefire violations and on establishing a mechanism to review implementation of obligations under the Doha Framework Agreement.

Eastern DR Congo has faced decades of conflict involving multiple armed groups, including M23, which seized territory in the region last year. Reports by NGOs and UN experts have said M23 has silenced dissenting voices, including journalists and human rights activists, in areas under its control.