A group of civil society organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is calling for peace talks between their leader, Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in order to end the armed conflict that has claimed hundreds of lives in eastern DRC since 2021.
The call comes amid an escalation of fighting between Congolese forces and the M23 rebels in the region. A recent UN report accused Rwandan troops of fighting alongside the rebels in Congolese territory.
The civil society organisations made the call for peace talks while marking the World Refugee Day in the DRC.
The coordinator of the civil society organisations proposed a meeting between Tshisekedi and Kagame to end the bloodshed in eastern DRC.
Aid agencies say hundreds of people have been killed and more than 1.5 million others displaced by the fighting between Congolese troops and the M23 rebels since late 2021.
The DRC government and the UN have accused Rwanda of backing the rebels – a charge that Rwanda has denied.
The M23 rebel group is led by ethnic Tutsis who say they are fighting to protect their community from attacks by a rival militia of Hutus in eastern DRC.
They have captured swathes of territories in North Kivu province and continued to launch offensives. On Thursday, the UN Security Council condemned the recent attacks by the M23 rebels and urged both sides to stop fighting.
But fighting has continued. Previous peace initiatives led by the Angolan president and the former Kenyan president have not yielded any fruit.
The DRC President has in the past said he will only accept to hold talks with his Rwandan counterpart if he orders his troops to withdraw from eastern DRC. The ongoing conflict has caused a massive humanitarian crisis in the region.
