African Leaders Agree On An Immediate Ceasefire From Friday In Eastern DR Congo

African leaders on Wednesday reached an agreement on an immediate ceasefire from Friday at 6 p.m. in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), at the end of a mini-summit in Luanda, reported The Africa News.

The declaration was issued by the leaders of DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Angola, and former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, who has mediated the crisis, following a summit held in Luanda on Wednesday. The summit was aimed at finding solutions to the ongoing crisis in east DRC.

Eastern DRC is facing an insurgency by the March 23 Movement, a Tutsi-led rebel group that the Congo government claims is supported by Rwanda.

While Rwanda continue to deny the allegations, the M23’s resurgence this year has caused a major diplomatic crisis. The Congo government also suspended Rwanda’s ambassador over its alleged backing of M23 rebels, who have seized towns in the east DRC province of North Kivu.

In addition to the ceasefire, the African leaders have also called for the M23 rebels to withdraw from its occupied territories or face intervention by regional forces.

“If M23 does not withdraw the East African Community (EAC) heads of states shall authorise use of force to compel the group to comply,” it said.

The East African Community (EAC), of which Rwanda is a member, has also vowed to deploy a joint force to quell the violence.

Kenyan soldiers arrived in the DRC earlier this month and Uganda says it will shortly deploy around 1,000 troops.

M23 briefly took over Goma 20 years ago before being forced out by the military after a 10-day occupation. The militant group re-emerged last year, claiming Kinshasa had failed to honour a pledge to integrate its fighters into the army, among other grievances.

According to the United Nations, there are nearly 300,000 people displaced by the latest fighting, which erupted last month.