Ladd Serwat on anniversary of M23 formation in the DRC

Dr Ladd Serwat, Africa Senior Analyst , said: 

“Seventeen years after the peace agreement between the Congolese government and the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) rebel group —a deal meant to integrate fighters into the national army and end a previous insurgency—  the March 23 Movement (M23) is at the center of conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The group takes its name directly from this accord, which it accuses the government of failing to fully implement, with many of the M23’s core militants coming from the CNDP.

“Since reigniting its insurgency in late 2021, the rebel group has seized vast swathes of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, including the strategically significant provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu in North and South Kivu.

“In recent months, the Congolese military has mounted an intense campaign of heavy weapons and aerial strikes against M23 positions. In the past week alone, strikes and shelling targeted M23 forces on the outskirts of Uvira  —a town the M23 had retreated from following diplomatic pressure from the United States.”