DR Congo army says M23 reinforcing in area it vowed to leave

The Congolese armed forces (FARDC) said in a statement that they were continuing to refrain from carrying out "offensive actions" against Rwanda-backed M23 fighters in the area.

A senior M23 member, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the army had struck the group's positions in Walikale on Thursday.

Neither sides' statements could be immediately verified.

On Saturday, the M23, an anti-government group which resurfaced in 2021, said that it was "repositioning its forces" outside the outskirts of Walikale to help create the right conditions for "peace and political dialogue".

It took control of the mining hub of Walikale last Wednesday, marking the furthest west the group has advanced into the interior of the Democratic Republic of Congo since it emerged in 2012.

Its fighters were still on the ground, residents have told AFP in recent days, saying the situation was again calm.

The army said in its statement that the M23 fighters were continuing "to reinforce their positions with men and equipment" contrary to the group's declaration that it would redeploy outside of Walikale.

The M23 has attacked army positions near the town and also in the neighbouring province of South Kivu, the army said.

The DRC government has accused Rwanda of backing the M23 in order to seize valuable mineral resources and rich farmland.

Rwanda denies providing the M23 with military support, but a UN experts' report has said that Rwanda maintains around 4,000 troops in the DRC's east to assist the armed group.

The M23 has taken control of large swathes of North and South Kivu provinces since 2021 and launched a lightning push earlier this year, capturing the cities of Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals.

Half a dozen ceasefires and truces have been brokered, and then broken.

A meeting between the Congolese government and the M23 in the Angolan capital Luanda last week was cancelled at the last minute.

On the same day, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame "reaffirmed their commitment to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire" after a surprise meeting in Doha organised by Qatar.