Delegations from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the M23 rebel movement have returned to negotiations in Qatar as fighting continues to intensify in the country’s troubled east.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that discussions are underway in Doha to review the July truce agreement, which committed both sides to a ceasefire and laid out a path toward a comprehensive settlement. That deal, however, faltered after both Kinshasa and the rebels accused each other of repeated violations.
Qatari spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said current talks focus on establishing a mechanism to monitor the ceasefire, alongside arrangements for prisoner exchanges. The United States and the International Committee of the Red Cross are supporting the process.
The latest initiative builds on a Washington-brokered agreement signed in June between Rwanda and the DRC, though M23 rejected that accord, insisting on direct negotiations with Kinshasa to resolve political grievances.
Despite the peace efforts, violence has worsened in North and South Kivu, where more than two million people have been displaced this year alone. Rights groups have accused the M23 of carrying out ethnically targeted killings, while UN investigators say Rwandan forces have played a key role in the group’s military advances — an allegation Kigali denies.
M23’s capture of major territory, including the provincial capital Goma earlier this year, has heightened fears that the conflict could spill over into a broader regional war.