M23 rebels leave strategic DRC town of Walikale ahead of planned Doha talks

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have withdrawn from the strategic town of Walikale, describing the move as a goodwill gesture ahead of planned peace talks with the government next week.

M23 has seized eastern DRC's two largest cities in a swift advance since January that has resulted in thousands of deaths and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes.

The fighting has raised fears of a wider regional war, as DRC's neighbours Uganda and Burundi also have troops in the region.

DRC's government and M23 plan to hold their first direct talks in Doha on April 9, sources from both camps told Reuters this week.

Situated along a road linking four eastern DRC provinces, Walikale is in an area rich in minerals including tin.

M23 pledged to withdraw from Walikale last month but initially failed to do so, accusing the DRC army of going back on its own commitments and not withdrawing attack drones.

Two residents and a local official confirmed to Reuters this week that they had left the town. Army spokesperson Sylvain Ekenge told Reuters on Friday that DRC troops were there, confirming M23 soldiers had left.

"If the forces of the Kinshasa regime continue their provocations or attacks on civilians in the liberated areas and on our positions, this gesture of goodwill will automatically be cancelled, and we will eliminate the threat at its source," Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesperson for the rebel alliance that includes M23, said in a statement on X on Thursday.

Doctors Without Borders said this week that civilians, along with its own teams, had been trapped by the violence in Walikale and that essential medical supplies would soon run out there.

The UN and Western governments say Rwanda has provided arms and troops to the ethnic Tutsi-led M23.

Rwanda has denied backing M23 and says its military has acted in self-defence against DRC's army and a militia founded by perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.