The United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) has demanded that the rebel movement March 23 (M23) leave the occupied territories in the North Kivu province, in the northeast of the country, by this coming Sunday, in accordance with the agreements signed in Luanda (Angola) on the end of the conflict in the region.
The M23 has been accused since November 2021 of carrying out attacks against Army positions in North Kivu, despite the Congolese authorities and the M23 signed in December 2013 a peace agreement after the fighting recorded since 2012 with the Army, which was supported by United Nations troops.
The situation has led to a spike in tensions between DRC and Rwanda as Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the rebels. UN experts stated in a recent report that the Rwandan authorities maintain a «direct intervention» in the African country through their support to the group.
«It is imperative that, before January 15, the M23 withdraw unconditionally from all positions it currently occupies in the territories of Rutshuru, Masisi and Nyiragongo, and limit itself to the Mont Sabinyo area,» reads the MONUSCO communiqué, published on its Twitter account.
Similarly, MONUSCO demands that the group «immediately» cease hostilities and join «unconditionally» the Congolese government’s disarmament program.
«More than half a million civilians have been displaced by M23 operations since November 2021, resulting in massive humanitarian needs. These populations must be allowed to return to their homes,» the organization adds.
The group’s spokesman, Lawrence Kanyuka, has regretted, also via Twitter, the MONUSCO communiqué, which he accused of practicing an exercise of «hypocrisy» in the face of its inability to stop other armed conflicts in the northeast of the country, in particular the atrocities committed by militias such as the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) in the neighboring region of Ituri.
It should be recalled that last Friday, a delegation of the M23 promised the international mediator and former Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, that they will continue to withdraw in an «orderly» manner from the areas they have occupied.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
