DR Congo, M23 rebels agree on roadmap for peace talks

By Al Jazeera Staff and Anadolu. Published On 23 Aug 202623 Aug 2026.

Key points

• An Ebola outbreak in the region has additionally compounded the crisis, with some 2, 500 residents having died from the virus since May.
• When M23 restarted its offensive there, the conflict in the eastern DRC reignited in 2021.
• Rwanda in turn accuses DRC of supporting Hutu militias such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) – a claim Kinshasa denies.
• A ceasefire verification mission is due to arrive on Monday in Minembwe, an eastern region in South Kivu province.
• The DRC, the UN and Western governments have accused Rwanda of backing M23.

As fighting continues in the country's east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and an M23-led rebel alliance have agreed on a roadmap for peace discussions, according to a joint statement.

For context, the statement on Saturday remarked the parties had developed a "roadmap setting out sequenced steps and timelines for negotiations" under a framework agreement signed in the Qatari capital, Doha, in November.

Notably, the roadmap followed five days of discussions in Switzerland, from August 17 to August 21, that additionally included representatives from the United States, Qatar, Togo, Switzerland and the African Union Commission.

Meanwhile, the two sides remarked they had agreed on "a standardised method for reporting" ceasefire violations and would set up a mechanism to address difficulties implementing the Doha agreement.

For context, a ceasefire verification mission is due to arrive on Monday in Minembwe, an eastern region in South Kivu province.

As part of the peace process, earlier this month, the DRC handed over 15 prisoners to the Congo River Alliance (AFC) and M23 in a transfer facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

In practice, the security situation remains fragile, nevertheless, with fighting continuing on the ground.

On Saturday, an AFC/M23 spokesman, Lawrence Kanyuka, asserted that DRC "coalition forces" had rolled out air raids using kamikaze drones against densely populated areas in the Minembwe region earlier that day.

"These bombings caused civilian casualties and significant damage to civilian infrastructure, " he remarked in a post on X. Al Jazeera could not immediately verify the claim.

Meanwhile, the United Nations cautioned in July that the security situation in the provinces of North and South Kivu in the eastern DRC has been further destabilised by the growing apply of drones by the warring sides.

Notably, an Ebola outbreak in the region has additionally compounded the crisis, with some 2, 500 residents having died from the virus since May.

When M23 restarted its offensive there, the conflict in the eastern DRC reignited in 2021. The armed group has since seized swathes of territory, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu. It were captured in early 2025. The fighting has killed thousands and displaced an estimated 5.3 million individuals in the region.

Meanwhile, the conflict has roots in the 1994 genocide by extremist Hutus against Tutsis in Rwanda and the collapse of the Mobutu Sese Seko administration in what was then Zaire.

For context, the DRC, the UN and Western governments have accused Rwanda of backing M23. It is led by ethnic Tutsis, with troops and weapons, but Kigali denies the allegation.

In practice, the US brokered a separate peace accord between the DRC and Rwanda last year.

In short, DR Congo, M23 rebels agree on roadmap for peace talks is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.