Nearly 40 members of the M23 rebel group have surrendered to the Congolese army in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), military officials confirmed on Monday.
The fighters, who laid down their arms in North Kivu, Kalehe, and South Kivu provinces, included two officers. Authorities said many of them were civilians, soldiers, and police officers who had been kidnapped and forcibly conscripted when M23 captured the cities of Goma and Bukavu earlier this year.
An army commander commended the move and urged other rebels to follow suit. The development comes a week after the DRC government and M23 agreed to establish an oversight body for a potential permanent ceasefire. The deal, mediated by Qatar, was signed in Doha and builds on a July declaration aimed at restoring state authority in eastern Congo.
The Rwanda-backed M23 remains the most powerful of over 100 armed groups vying for control of the mineral-rich region. The ongoing conflict has displaced more than 7 million people, with the United Nations describing it as “one of the most protracted, complex and serious humanitarian crises on Earth.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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