Uhuru hails US-brokered ceasefire in troubled DRC

Kenya's former president, Uhuru Kenyatta, has welcomed the US-brokered ceasefire on hostilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

On Monday, the White House said a 72-hour ceasefire had been agreed to by the parties involved in the conflict in eastern DRC, backed by both the DRC and Rwanda.

Kenyatta, who is the facilitator of the East African Community (EAC)-led Nairobi Peace Process on Tuesday expressed hope that the ceasefire will be extended indefinitely to facilitate the peace-building process.

“H.E. President (Rtd) Uhuru Kenyatta welcomes the US-brokered ceasefire and hopes that it will be extended indefinitely in order to facilitate the peace-building process and to put an end to the senseless killing and suffering in the eastern DRC. Former President Kenyatta looks forward to the resumption of the Nairobi process and the final brokering of a lasting peace in the troubled region of the eastern Congo,” Mr Kenyatta’s office said in a post shared on X.

White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson on Monday said "The U.S. Government will use its intelligence and diplomatic resources to monitor the activities by armed forces and non-state armed groups during the ceasefire."

Watson noted that armed forces and non-state armed groups stopped fighting to allow for the withdrawal of forces occupying Mushaki and the RP1030 road, beginning on Monday at noon.

While Rwanda's government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the Reuters news agency, the spokesperson for Congo President Felix Tshisekedi said she did not have a reaction.

Washington has previously urged both Kinshasa and Kigali to de-escalate tensions amid a worsening humanitarian crisis along the border between the two countries.

Congo accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 rebel group but Rwanda has denied this.

Reuters reports that M23 has denied analysts' reports that it breached a ceasefire deal brokered in November last year.

A spokesman for the group told the news agency that Monday’s 72-hour ceasefire did not concern the M23 and that it was just to avoid escalation between Congo and Rwanda.