The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who seized the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo last week have declared a unilateral ceasefire starting on Tuesday.
The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of militias including M23, said it was declaring the ceasefire “for humanitarian reasons”. Flows of aid, food and other basic goods into the city were all but cut off by the M23 advance, and in recent days humanitarian organisations and the international community have stepped up calls for the creation of safe corridors to get vital items in.
On Monday the UN said at least 900 people had died in last week’s fighting between the rebels and Congolese forces. It added that warehouses and offices belonging to aid organisations had been looted, and warned of the spread of mpox, cholera, measles and other diseases due to lack of access to medical care.
Foreign ministers from the G7 advanced economies urged parties in the conflict to return to negotiations on Monday and called for a “rapid, safe and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians”.
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Goma, a city of 2 million people and a humanitarian hub for displaced people, is at the heart of a region with trillions of dollars in mineral wealth. During the M23 takeover hospitals were overwhelmed by people injured in the fighting, and dead bodies lay in the streets for days. About 300,000 internally displaced people were forced to flee camps on the city’s outskirts.
Last week M23 was reported to be advancing beyond Goma and in the direction of Bukavu, the capital of neighbouring South Kivu province, but on Monday the group claimed it had no intention of seizing more territory. “It must be made clear that we have no intention of capturing Bukavu or other areas,” it said in a statement. “However, we reiterate our commitment to protecting and defending the civilian population and our positions.”
The M23 rebels are backed by 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to UN experts, far more than in 2012 when they first briefly captured Goma then withdrew after international pressure.
M23 is the latest in a string of ethnic Tutsi-led insurgent groups that have operated in mineral-rich eastern DRC since a 2003 deal was meant to end wars that had killed 6 million people, mostly from hunger and disease.
Rwanda says its primary interest is to eradicate fighters linked to the country’s 1994 genocide. The Congolese government and several UN reports say in fact Rwanda uses the group as a means to extract and then export valuable minerals for use in products such as mobiles phones.
Two regional blocs – the Southern African Development Community and the East African Community (EAC) – will on Friday and Saturday hold a joint summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, about the conflict.
Kenya’s president, William Ruto, on Monday said Félix Tshisekedi, the DRC president, and the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, would attend. Last week, Tshisekedi snubbed an emergency virtual summit organised by the EAC.
Congolese authorities have in the past said they are open to talks, but that they must factor in previous peace agreements. Rwanda and the rebels have accused the DRC of failing to meet demands of previous deals.
Associated Press contributed to this report
