US announces two-week humanitarian truce in eastern DRC backed by Kinshasa and Kigali

5 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United States government has announced a two-week humanitarian truce in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where fighting between the Congolese army and the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group has forced 6.9 million people to flee their homes since October 2023, according to UN data.

“The United States welcomes the two-week humanitarian truce that the warring parties in eastern DRC have agreed to. The humanitarian situation in North Kivu is dire, with nearly three million internally displaced people in the province,” said Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the National Security Council of the United States.

The ceasefire began early this morning and will last until 19 July, a period during which both parties have agreed to “silence their weapons” to allow the voluntary return of displaced persons and to facilitate the work of humanitarian workers. It is based on the measures agreed last November between the governments of Rwanda – which supports the M23 – and the DRC.

In this regard, he urged both parties to respect “the spirit of the truce” and stressed that Washington will use its diplomatic and intelligence services to “monitor the activities” of both sides.

“The recent upsurge in fighting in North Kivu has prevented humanitarian workers from reaching hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people in the Kanyabayonga area and has displaced more than 100,000 people from their homes,” Watson added.

Finally, the Government of Angola has reaffirmed its full support for the Luanda process and for the mediation of the Government of Angola in the de-escalation of this conflict so that it can be extended to more areas of the country.

The M23 is a rebel group made up mainly of Congolese Tutsis and operates mainly in North Kivu province. Following a conflict between the DRC and the group from 2012 to 2013, a peace agreement was signed in December between the DRC and the group. In these clashes, the Congolese army was supported by United Nations troops.

The group launched a new offensive in October 2022, which intensified from November onwards, triggering a diplomatic crisis between the DRC and Rwanda over their role in the conflict and raising concerns in the region about the possibility of a conflict breaking out between the two countries.