DR Congo Accuses M23 Rebels of Killing 50 Civilians

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Facts

  • The Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) military on Thursday accused the M23 rebel group of killing 50 civilians in the country's conflict-ridden east, despite a recent ceasefire agreement.
  • According to the DRC Armed Forces, the M23 attack took place Tuesday in the village of Kishishe, near the regional capital of Goma, with Rwandan troops also involved. The UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) confirmed that a "high number" of civilians were killed.
  • Late Thursday, M23 issued a statement rejecting the alleged killing of civilians as "baseless allegations." Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the "March 23 Movement," which is largely made up of Congolese Tutsi; Rwanda rejects the claims, which have also been raised by the UN and Washington.
  • The latest fighting occurred after regional leaders at a summit in the Angolan capital of Luanda agreed to a ceasefire that took effect on Nov. 25 and also demanded that M23 withdraw from areas it occupies in North Kivu. While the ceasefire between the FARDC and M23 initially held, the militia did not withdraw as was demanded and allegedly continued to attack civilians.
  • Meanwhile, a new round of peace talks kicked off in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi earlier this week. Facilitated by former Kenyan Pres. Uhuru Kenyatta, the third inter-Congolese dialogue for the first time includes representatives of the main rebel groups to discuss solutions to the conflict that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions.
  • M23 isn't represented at the talks as Kinshasa is demanding the militia's withdrawal from eastern Congo as a precondition for its inclusion in negotiations. The Tutsi-led fighters have accused Kinshasa of failing to implement a 2013 peace deal that granted the rebels DRC citizenship and integration into the DRC armed forces.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Associated Press, East African, Africa, VOA, and RFI.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by East African. Despite one peace talk following another, DRC Pres. Tshisekedi keeps fueling the conflict to justify the postponement of the December 2023 elections. While Kinshasa directs the international community's focus exclusively on the allegedly Rwandan-backed M23, there are more than 400 other rebel groups in eastern Congo. As long as Kinshasa blames Rwanda for its security issues, it will be challenging for the international community to provide the required support needed to end this conflict.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by North Africa Post. While the East African community and Kinshasa are constantly engaged in new efforts to finally end the conflict in eastern DRC, the West — which usually never tires of pretending to be committed to world peace — is obviously not very interested in this particular conflict. It's high time for the so-called international community to abandon its double standards and put credible pressure on Rwanda as well as Uganda to end their support for rebel groups operating in resource-rich eastern Congo.