DOHA: A Democratic Republic of Congo government delegation has met with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in Qatar in a bid to halt fighting in the country’s east, a source with knowledge of the talks said on Saturday.

The M23 has taken control of large swathes of the DRC’s eastern provinces of North and South Kivu since 2021 and captured their capitals Goma and Bukavu in a lightning offensive earlier this year.

“A discreet meeting was hosted by the Qataris in Doha last week between delegations from the government of DRC and the AFC/M23 movement, marking their first direct encounter in a long time,” the source said.

“Further talks are now expected in Doha, again with the Qataris mediating, to sustain the momentum and explore constructive solutions to end the conflict peacefully.” The source described the opening round of talks in late March as “positive”, saying it had built “trust between the two sides that led to the withdrawal of M23 forces from the strategically important city of Walikale as a gesture of goodwill”.

But the DRC army accused the M23 of reneging on that commitment on Thursday by reinforcing its positions and resuming attacks around the key mining hub, the farthest west the group has advanced in the country’s interior since its foundation in 2012.

A senior M23 member said that the army had struck the group’s positions in Walikale.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2025