The negotiations, which are set to begin on Tuesday in Angola, come amid widespread calls for an end to the Central African state’s deadly conflict
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) will send a delegation to Angola for peace talks with rebels, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing the presidency. M23 fighters have increased their attacks on the Central African country’s forces and allies in the east since the beginning of the year, escalating a decades-old conflict.
Angola announced last week that it will begin mediating direct ceasefire negotiations between the militants and DR Congo officials on March 18.
“At this stage, we can’t say who will make up the delegation,” Tina Salama, spokesperson at the DR Congo presidency said, according to Reuters.
In a statement on X on Sunday, M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka also said the group had received an invitation from the Angolan government, without stating whether they would attend the talks in Luanda. Last Wednesday, Bertrand Bisimwa, an M23 leader, described dialogue as “the only civilized option to resolve the current crisis that has lasted for decades.”
On Saturday, Angolan President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco, who is also the chairman of the African Union, urged the conflicting parties to halt the hostilities from Sunday midnight to create a favorable climate for the talks. However, local officials reportedly claim clashes occurred in the North Kivu town of Walikale.
The Congolese authorities had previously refused to hold talks with the rebels, and Angola-mediated peace efforts were halted last December after Rwanda demanded that Kinshasa engage directly with the M23. Earlier this month, Congolese Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka reportedly said her government would only negotiate with Rwanda, which is the “aggressor of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
The former Belgian colony’s mineral-rich eastern region has endured decades of violence, driven by the M23 and other armed groups fighting the authorities for power and minerals such as gold and diamonds. The Congolese government has repeatedly accused neighboring Rwanda of backing the militants – which the neighboring state denies.
In the latest escalation, which erupted in January, the militants have seized several key cities, including the North Kivu capital, Goma, and Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu. According to recent figures from Kinshasa’s Health Ministry, over 8,500 people have died as a result of the fighting.
The Southern African regional bloc (SADC), which had troops in the DR Congo helping the Congolese Army fight the armed groups, announced a “phased withdrawal” of the contingent last week. The grouping has lost more than a dozen peacekeepers, including Malawian, Tanzanian, and South African soldiers, in the ongoing fighting.
