Luanda, the capital of Angola, announced that the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the M23 rebels supported by Rwanda will engage in discussions next week.
A press release from the office of President Joao Lourenco revealed that the two parties will commence “direct peace talks” in Luanda on March 18.
Angola has previously served as a mediator in the conflict in eastern DRC, which escalated when the M23 took over the important city of Goma at the end of January. In February, the M23 captured Bukavu, the second largest city in eastern Congo.
Rwanda denies supporting the M23 armed group, maintaining that the conflict stems from the aftermath of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide spreading into DRC and the battle for control of the country’s abundant mineral resources.
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi visited Angola on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of negotiations. His spokesperson Tina Salama informed Reuters news agency on Wednesday that the government had received an invitation from Angola but did not confirm their participation in the talks.
M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa expressed that the rebels compelled Tshisekedi to the negotiating table, highlighting it as “the only civilized option to bring an end to the longstanding crisis.”
The government reported a death toll of at least 7,000 people since the conflict erupted in January.
Recently, the United Nations refugee agency disclosed that nearly 80,000 individuals have fled the country due to the conflict. Out of these, 61,000 have sought refuge in neighboring Burundi, as stated by the agency’s deputy director of international protection, Patrick Eba.
M23 is just one of the approximately 100 armed groups competing for control over resources in eastern Congo, a region rich in strategic minerals like coltan, cobalt, copper, and lithium.
Neighboring countries of DRC, such as South Africa, Burundi, and Uganda, have deployed troops in eastern Congo, leading to concerns of a potential regional war reminiscent of the deadly Congo wars in the 1990s and early 2000s, which claimed millions of lives.
