East African Community Secretary-General Peter Mathuki and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday, October 10, discussed the conflict in eastern DR Congo.

Their meeting follows the resumption of hostilities on October 1 between Congolese armed forces (FARDC) and the M23 rebels in North Kivu province. Uganda has a contingent in the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF), with bases in Kiwanja and Bunagana, in North Kivu Province. Besides Uganda, the EAC regional force has troops from Kenya, Burundi, and South Sudan.

Heavy fighting has been reported in Kitshanga, Kibumba, and Kilorirwe, among other parts of North Kivu Province, where the M23 accused the FARDC of forming a coalition with militias, including the Rwandan genocidal militia, FDLR.

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On Tuesday, the facilitator of the EAC-led Nairobi peace process for DR Congo, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta raised concerns about the escalation of hostilities. Kenyatta, who met with Museveni in August over the DR Congo conflict, appealed to both parties to cease the offensives and to pursue a non-military solution to the crisis.

The resumption of hostilities in eastern DR Congo, where the Congolese army and the M23 rebels have fought since November 2021, got regional leaders concerned about the escalation.

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Military leaders from four regional communities met on October 6, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to discuss the crisis in eastern DR Congo. The meeting, held under the auspices of the African Union, supported a political solution and urged the parties to come to the negotiating table.

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DR Congo’s government has ruled out any possibility of peace talks with the rebels.

In November 2022, the EAC deployed a regional force to DR Congo to observe a ceasefire between the Congolese armed forces and M23 rebels.

The ceasefire has been fragile, with both parties accusing each other of breaking it. Eastern DR Congo is home to more than 130 armed groups and has been volatile for nearly 30 years, with a number of regional and international interventions failing to end the decades of violence.