The M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo blamed the government coalition for the violation of a humanitarian truce that was brokered by the United States and said Kinshasa had held hostage thousands of people displaced by the conflict. The July 5 ceasefire, signed to facilitate humanitarian assistance and the return of internally displaced people (IDPs), was broken by fighting in North Kivu province. ALSO READ: M23 rebels ‘welcome’ US-brokered humanitarian truce “This truce has not been respected by the coalition forces of the Kinshasa regime, who have still not allowed the IDPs to return peacefully to their original areas,” M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement on Monday, July 22. He said the government coalition took advantage of the truce and launched “multiple targeted attacks” against the rebel-held territory in Bweremana, Ruzintaka, Kirumba, Matembe (Kaseghe) and Masisi. On July 17, the US government said the parties had agreed to a 15-day extension of the humanitarian truce. ALSO READ: M23 rebels seize more territory in eastern DR Congo “[M23] requests an evaluation at the end of this second truce, as well as additional guarantees from the international community,” Kanyuka said. “In this regard, the Kinshasa regime has still not provided any consideration for the said truce, which it celebrates in the media as a diplomatic victory.” He said the M23 has an “obligation to defend the civilian populations massacred in North Kivu, Ituri, and any other DRC provinces still under the throes of the Kinshasa regime's dictatorship.” ALSO READ: M23 claims capture of FDLR strongholds Although the Congolese government maintains that the conflict will be resolved militarily, Kanyuka said the rebels were “ready for direct and open political dialogue.” The Congolese government coalition includes the FDLR, a UN-sanctioned militia linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, forces from the Southern African Development Community, Burundian soldiers, local youth groups and European mercenaries. Eastern DR Congo has been volatile for about three decades. It is home to more than 200 local and foreign armed groups.
