Leaders from east and southern Africa have called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to end the deadly fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At a crisis summit in Tanzania, the Southern African Development Community and East African Community (EAC) blocs urged all warring parties to hold peace talks within five days, including with the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rebels – fighting government forces – have seized vast swathes of land in the eastern DR Congo, including the city of Goma. Their push towards Bukavu has raised fears of a wider regional war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of their talks, army chiefs have also been told to draw up a security plan for Goma and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest UN figures suggest 2,900 people have been killed since early January, as a result of the hostilities between M23 and armed forces of the DR Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 700,000 are estimated to have been displaced and thousands more injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saturday’s gathering in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s biggest city, brought together heads of state and government representatives to try to resolve the worsening security and humanitarian situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The summit emphasises that political and diplomatic engagement is the most sustainable solution to the conflict,” said the follow-up communique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also demanded the reopening of Goma airport and other key routes to facilitate humanitarian aid, as well as the withdrawal of uninvited foreign armed forces from Congolese territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
M23, which is made up of ethnic Tutsis, say they are fighting for minority rights while DR Congo’s government says the Rwanda-backed rebels are seeking control of the eastern region’s vast mineral wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rwandan President Paul Kagame – who was at the summit – has repeatedly denied any involvement in supporting the rebels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But,\u00a0as reported last month by the BBC’s Ian Wafula, a group of UN experts maintains the Rwandan army is in “de facto control of M23 operations” – detailing how M23 recruits are trained under Rwandan supervision and supported by high-tech Rwandan weaponry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the summit, Kagame posted on Facebook, accusing the DR Congo of “mounting a security problem against our country”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The DR Congo’s President, F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi, opted to appear at the summit via video link. Prime Minister Judith Suminwa was there in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no immediate response from Suminwa or the Congolese delegation to the joint communique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kenyan President William Ruto, the current EAC chairperson, stressed military solutions alone could not resolve the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We must resist the temptation to think that we can somehow shoot or bombard our way into a solution in the face of such a complex situation,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan underscored a “collective responsibility” of regional leaders to end the conflict, saying “history will judge us harshly if we remain still and watch the situation worsen day by day”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ongoing conflict dates back to the 1990s, but has rapidly escalated in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The DR Congo is so vast – two-thirds the size of Western Europe – that it is a member of both the East and Southern African blocs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leaders from east and southern Africa have called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to end the deadly fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At a crisis summit in Tanzania, the Southern African Development Community and East African Community (EAC) blocs urged all warring parties to hold peace talks within five days, including with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,15],"tags":[7,26,25],"class_list":{"0":"post-40142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-politics","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics"},"yoast_head":"\n