M23 to send delegation to peace talks with DRC government in Angola

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels said on Monday they would send a delegation to peace talks with Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) government expected to begin on Tuesday in Angola's capital.

“The five-member delegation is expected to leave for Luanda on Monday for dialogue at the request of Angolan authorities,” Lawrence Kanyuka, a spokesperson for the AFC rebel alliance that includes the M23, said in a post on X.

On Sunday President Felix Tshisekedi's office said Kinshasa would also send representatives to Luanda, reversing the government's long-standing vow not to negotiate with the group.

Angola has been trying to mediate a lasting ceasefire and lower frictions between DRC and neighbouring Rwanda, which the UN and others say has been providing arms and sending soldiers to fight with the Tutsi-led rebel group.

Rwanda says its forces are acting in self defence against the DRC army and militias hostile to Kigali.

The conflict, which has blighted eastern DRC for decades, is rooted in the spillover into DRC of Rwanda's 1994 genocide and the struggle for control of DRC's vast mineral resources.

It escalated this year, with M23 gaining ground it had never controlled before, including east DRC's two biggest cities and a host of smaller localities.

DRC's government has said at least 7,000 people have died in the fighting since January. At least 600,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since November, according to the UN humanitarian affairs office.