Renewed Hopes

After several failed attempts to end the conflict pitting DR Congo and Rwanda, there are renewed hopes that this time around, something positive is in the making. In the past months, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have held talks aimed at ending the political stand-off between the two countries caused by a worsening conflict near their shared border. The discussions, held in Angola and mediated by Angolan President João Lourenco, came amid tensions caused by the M23 rebel group in Congo’s east, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes in an area that has had little respite from conflict for decades.
Congo has long accused Rwanda of backing the Tutsi-led group, which has attacked the Congolese army near the Rwandan border since 2012. A joint statement released at the end of the talks, stated that both sides are determined to, “Maintain the political dialogue between the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda as a means of resolving the political crisis between the two brotherly countries.” During discussions held in July that the two countries pledged to end hostilities and remove M23 fighters from Congo. Though of late diplomatic tensions have escalated after the group launched a new offensive in North Kivu Province and captured the strategic town of Kiwanja, prompting Congolese authorities to expel the Rwandan Ambassador and an anti-Rwanda street protests in the eastern city of Goma, there are hopes that peace might return soonest in the region.
The decision to deploy a joint regional force to quell the violence, the arrival of Kenyan soldiers in the country earlier in November and t...