The United Nations will send its first team to monitor a ceasefire between the Congolese government and the AFC/M23 rebel group in the coming days, Qatar’s foreign ministry said Monday, following talks in Doha.
The team is set to deploy to Uvira, a strategic city in eastern Congo that AFC/M23 captured in December during a rapid offensive. Congolese forces and allied militias regained control last month after the rebels announced their withdrawal.
The announcement signals progress in Doha-mediated direct talks between Congo and AFC/M23, who last year seized more territory in eastern Congo than ever before. The United States is hosting separate talks between Congo and Rwanda, which the UN and Western powers accuse of backing AFC/M23—a claim Kigali denies.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said Congo and M23 had agreed on detailed terms of reference for the ceasefire monitoring mechanism created under an October agreement and reaffirmed commitments under the broader peace framework signed in November.
The move to activate monitoring comes amid ongoing violence in eastern Congo. Over the weekend, drones carrying explosives targeted the airport in Kisangani, in the northeast, Congolese authorities said. If confirmed as an AFC/M23 attack, it would mark the westernmost strike by the group in its offensive against the Kinshasa government.