Angola says truce reached in eastern DRC after Kinshasa-Kigali talks

A ceasefire beginning on August 4 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been agreed following talks between DRC and Rwanda, the Angola presidency, which has been mediating the talks, has said in a statement.

Tuesday's talks, chaired by Angola's Foreign Minister Tete Antonio, were attended by Rwanda's Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe and his Congolese counterpart Therese Kayikwamba.

The ceasefire will be monitored by an adhoc reinforced verification mechanism, a statement said.

The statement did not specify which parties had agreed to the ceasefire on Tuesday nor how long it would last.

A two-week humanitarian truce took place earlier in July amid fierce fighting between DRC's troops and rebels from the M23 group.

A spokesperson for the DRC Foreign Ministry confirmed the ceasefire to the Reuters news agency and said it would be of indefinite duration.

M23 rebellion

Eastern DRC has struggled with armed violence for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities.

Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings.

Congo accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels since their resurgence in November 2021, a charge that Kigali consistently denies.

Fighting in North Kivu province has displaced more than 1.7 million people, driving up the number displaced in DRC by multiple conflicts to a record 7.2 million, according to United Nations estimates.

The foreign ministers earlier met with Angolan President Joao Lourenco, who was mandated by the African Union to lead diplomatic efforts aimed at providing a political settlement to the crisis in eastern DRC.

The resumption of the talks came days after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi accused his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto of mismanaging the Nairobi peace process, which was also aimed at addressing the conflict in eastern Congo through dialogue.

Tshisekedi accused Ruto of siding with Rwanda.