The World Today
The armed group accuses Kinshasa of violating the terms agreed in Qatar, where negotiations were scheduled to resume on Monday.
MADRID, 19 (EUROPA PRESS)
The March 23 Movement (M23) militia has suspended peace talks with the Congolese government, a decision it made this Monday, when the two sides were scheduled to resume negotiations in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and after accusing Kinshasa the day before of having launched a "deadly" offensive in the province of South Kivu, which would represent a new violation of the preliminary peace declaration adopted by both sides in the middle of last month.
spokesman for the Congo River Alliance—the armed group's political wing —confirmed the decision to the BBC's Great Lakes service, stating that M23 representatives are not in the Qatari capital and asserting that the Congolese authorities "do not want peace."
The announcement comes days after the Rwandan-backed group reported that "Kinshasa regime coalition forces launched a deadly offensive against densely populated areas of Nzimbira, Kanyola and their surrounding areas since the early hours of Sunday, August 17, 2025, using heavy artillery and suicide drones."
The M23 has controlled the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu, Goma, and Bukavu, for months, amid a long conflict with Congolese authorities that has triggered the exodus of hundreds of thousands of people from the area.
The Congolese army has not commented on the matter, but civil society routinely accuses militias known as the Wazalendos, paramilitary groups affiliated with the authorities, of continuing to participate in combat against the M23 despite Qatar's declaration.
Since the signing of the so-called preliminary peace declaration on July 19 in Qatar, both sides have blamed each other for breaking the principles agreed upon to end one of the bloodiest conflicts on the African continent.
Added to this is the activity of other local militias, beginning above all with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), linked to the Islamic State and characterized by their extreme brutality. Last weekend, they attacked the town of Oichi in North Kivu, leaving at least nine dead, three of them burned alive.
