Luanda – The presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi, and of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, are meeting Wednesday in Luanda, mediated by the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, in a meeting aimed at resolving the armed conflict in eastern DRC.
Relations between the two neighbouring countries have been complicated since the DRC took in, in the east, Rwandan Hutus accused of taking part in the genocide of Tutsis in 1994.
In March of this year (2022), the DRC accused the Rwandan government of sending Special Forces soldiers into Congolese territory.
The current escalation of tension is due to the resurgence of the M23 group (Movement 23 March), an armed militia that in 2012 opposed the Congolese government and generated a violent conflict that forced the displacement of thousands of people in the province of North Kivu.
At the end of the same year (2012), M23 took control of Goma, but retreated after the Congolese government agreed to open negotiations.
M23 was initially a militia formed by Tutsis from the DRC and reportedly supported by the governments of Rwanda and Uganda. On 23 March 2009, the militia signed a peace agreement with the Congolese government that culminated in its members being incorporated into the DRC army.
However, in 2012, the M23 group rebelled against the DRC government, accused of not fulfilling its part of the agreement signed three years earlier. Thus, the M23 was born, in reference to the date on which the controversial pact was signed.
Tension between the militia and the army reached a peak in November 2012, when M23 took command of the Goma region (DRC).
Source: Angola Press News Agency