The UN demands that the Congolese M23 rebels leave their occupied positions in North Kivu by Sunday

14 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has demanded that the rebel movement March 23 (M23) leave the occupied territories in the North Kivu province, in the northeast of the country, by virtue of the agreements signed in Luanda (Angola) on the end of the conflict in the region.

The M23 has been accused since November 2021 of carrying out attacks against Army positions in North Kivu, despite the Congolese authorities and the M23 signing a peace agreement in December 2013 after fighting since 2012 with the Army, with the support of United Nations troops.

The situation has led to an uptick in tensions between the DRC and Rwanda as Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the rebels. United Nations experts affirmed in a recent report that the Rwandan authorities maintain a “direct intervention” in the African country through their support for the group.

“It is imperative that, before January 15, the M23 withdraw unconditionally from all the positions it currently occupies in the Rutshuru, Masisi and Nyiragongo territories, and limit itself to the Mont Sabinyo area,” reads the MONUSCO statement. , posted on his Twitter account.

Similarly, MONUSCO demands that the group “immediately” cease hostilities and join “unconditionally” the disarmament program of the Congolese government.

“More than half a million civilians have been displaced by M23 operations since November 2021, creating massive humanitarian needs. These populations must be able to return to their homes,” the organization adds.

The group’s spokesman, Lawrence Kanyuka, has regretted, also through Twitter, the MONUSCO statement, which he has accused of practicing an exercise in “hypocrisy” given its inability to stop other armed conflicts in the northeast of the country, in particular the atrocities committed by militias such as the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) in the neighboring region of Ituri.

It should be remembered that, this past Friday, a delegation from the M23 promised the international mediator and former Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, that they will continue to withdraw in an “orderly” manner from the areas they have occupied.