The M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo have welcomed a 72-hour ceasefire with the Congolese army, which was announced by the United States government on Monday, December 11. “Although the M23 did not take part in the decision for the 72-hour ceasefire, it welcomes the decision since it is in line with the M23's existing signed ceasefire of March 7th, 2023,” the group’s spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement on Tuesday. ALSO READ: US govt says DR Congo, M23 rebels have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire He said the M23 want to “give a chance to a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Eastern [DR Congo].” The Congolese army and the M23 had a fragile ceasefire since November 2022 which was broken on October 1 as hostilities renewed, threatening to end regional peace efforts. Kanyuka, who expressed support for the US effort to de-escalate tensions between parties to the conflict, said the M23 rebels “will not hesitate to protect the civilian population and defend ourselves professionally,” if they are attacked by the government coalition, which included militia groups like the genocidal FDLR. The Congolese government has not commented on the development. ALSO READ: Kagame, US intelligence chief discuss tensions in eastern DR Congo In a statement on Monday, the Spokesperson for the White House National Security Council Adrienne Watson said the United States “welcomes the ceasefire committed to by the parties to the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.” Watson said the ceasefire began at midday on Monday and was “a follow-up to the confidence building measures” secured during Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines’ travel on November 19-20 to the DR Congo and Rwanda, and her subsequent engagements with Presidents Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame. She said the US would “use its intelligence and diplomatic resources to monitor the activities by armed forces and non-state armed groups during the ceasefire.” Watson added that her country supports the resumption of the Nairobi and Luanda processes, which seek to address the current and historic factors perpetuating this longstanding crisis. ALSO READ: Rwandan envoy condemns Kinshasa’s arming of militias DR Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels in the country’s east – allegations Kigali dismisses, saying the rebellion is an internal Congolese issue. Rwanda on the other hand, accuses the Congolese army of integrating and cooperating with the genocidal FDLR militia, which has remained a thorn in her security for the past three decades. The UN-sanctioned FDLR was created by remnants of Interahamwe militia and the former Rwandan army responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and is accused of spreading hate speech and violence against the Congolese Tutsi communities. ALSO READ: ‘Premature departure’ of EAC force from DR Congo ‘undermines’ peace efforts Kanyuka said the M23 remained committed to the efforts to “resolve the ongoing conflict in Eastern DRC peacefully by addressing the root causes of the conflicts. He called on the International Community “to break its silence over the ongoing ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the DRC Government.” ALSO READ: DR Congo: EAC army chiefs approve regional force’s exit plan despite continued clashes The Congolese government has been criticised for refusing to renew the mandate of the East African Community regional force, which had been deployed to eastern DR Congo to support the peace processes and observe the withdrawal of the M23. Despite continued clashes between the government coalition and the M23 in North Kivu province, the regional force began withdrawing from its positions five days before its mandate expired on December 8. The Congolese government had for months criticised the regional force of failing to fight the rebels, although that was not in its mandate. Eastern DR Congo has been volatile for nearly 30 years and remains home to more than 130 armed groups.
