The president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi, says the M23 rebel group has not fully withdrawn from areas seized in the country’s east, accusing the militia of faking an agreed pullback of its forces.
Regional leaders brokered an agreement in November 2022 under which the Tutsi-led group was meant to withdraw from recently seized positions by January 15 as part of efforts to end a conflict that has displaced at least four hundred and fifty people. It has also sparked a diplomatic crisis between DRC and neighbouring Rwanda.
Earlier in January, an internal United Nations intelligence report said it was not possible to confirm the 23 million purported withdrawal from some areas due to continued signs of troop movement, and its analysis indicated the group had seized new territory elsewhere.
Tshisekedi again accused Rwanda of fuelling the conflict by supporting the rebels – an accusation leveled also by Western powers and UN experts, but Rwanda has firmly denied this.
Several civil society organisations have called for a demonstration on Wednesday in the provincial capital, Goma, to protest delays in implementing the M23 withdrawal, although city authorities have not authorised the march.
