Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Southern African regional bloc has said it will conclude its troop deployment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), having decided on a “phased withdrawal”.

Direct peace talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo and M23 rebels will begin in the Angolan capital on March 18, Angola's presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.

Fighting between M23 rebels and pro-Congo militias was underway on Sunday in Nyabiondo, about 100 km (62 miles) north of Goma in eastern Congo, residents said, days after a nearby attack left a heavy civilian death toll, according to the United Nations and an NGO.

Close to 80,000 people have fled armed clashes between Congolese Government forces and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels into neighbouring countries and some 61,000 have arrived in Burundi … A staggering 895 cases of rape were reported to humanitarian actors in the last two weeks of February alone, the UN refugee agency official continued - an average of more than 60 a day.

The deployment was requested by the Congolese army following alleged massacres of civilians carried out by a militia known as the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO), he said, without providing further details.  … Uganda already has thousands of troops in other parts of Ituri under an agreement with the Congolese government.

Former presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia were appointed Monday by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC) blocs as facilitators of the regional peace process in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Crowds of Congolese police officers who switched to the M23 rebel group sang and clapped in occupied Bukavu city on Saturday, preparing for retraining under the authority of the rebels who are intent on showing they plan to stick around and govern.  

Burundi has “accelerated” the withdrawal of some troops from DR Congo, a senior military source told AFP Thursday, as the UN warned the small Great Lakes nation was seeing its biggest influx of refugees from its conflict-riven neighbor in 25 years. 

The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday criticized the “inaction” of the UN Security Council in the wake of the M23 armed group seizing the city of Bukavu, according to a letter seen by AFP. 

An army spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that additional troops from the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) have entered Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province, a key town in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, amid rising tensions in the region. … Uganda finds itself in a complex web of accusations and denials within the volatile eastern Congo conflict.