The Congolese army lost territory Monday in fighting with Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern DR Congo, military and local sources said, a day after a peace summit between the presidents of the two countries was canceled.
Since 2021, the Kigali-backed M23 rebel militia has seized swathes of the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, displacing thousands and triggering a humanitarian crisis.
DRC armed forces lost control of Matembe, a town in North Kivu province located on the road to the key commercial hub of Butembo, after clashes broke out Sunday with the M23, according to the local and military sources.
Fighting resumed early Monday “in the hills between Matembe and the neighboring town of Vutsorovya,” John Mahangaiko, spokesperson for a pro-Kinshasa militia operating alongside the army in the area, told AFP.
A Congolese military source confirmed that the army was forced to “retreat.”
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame were due to meet Sunday, hosted by Angolan President Joao Lourenco, the African Union mediator to end the conflict.
But the summit was abruptly canceled after talks between delegations from both sides stalled overnight.
The Congolese presidency said that negotiations had hit a deadlock over a Rwandan demand that the DRC hold direct dialogue with the M23 rebels.
Home to a string of rival armed groups, the mineral-rich eastern DRC has been plagued by internal and cross-border violence for the past three decades.
