NAIROBI, KENYA — Leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda meeting in Angola this week agreed to ease tensions and normalize diplomatic relations. The DRC has accused Rwanda of supporting resurgent M23 rebels, who in June seized a border town from the military.
Rights groups and analysts have welcomed the detente but say a lasting peace means addressing root causes of militias in the DRC.
Twizeere Bastiste is a livestock farmer in the eastern DRC. He said he fled his village last week to a camp at Rutshuru in North Kivu province after M23 rebels attacked while his animals were grazing. Two of his brothers were killed.
He said his livestock was stolen and his house was demolished. He asked for an end to the war so people can go back to their homes and to end people’s suffering in the camps.
At least 1.9 million civilians have been displaced in North Kivu this year, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Dozens have been killed since the M23 rebel group resurfaced after a fragile, nearly decade-long ceasefire. They began a major offensive in Congo’s eastern borderlands in March.
Source: Voice of America