DR Congo and M23 Rebels Agree on Peace Roadmap Amid Ongoing Eastern Conflict

A member of DRC armed forces stands guard along a street in Sange, South Kivu province, on May 12, 2026. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and an M23-led rebel alliance have reached a consensus on a roadmap for peace negotiations, according to a joint statement, even as fighting persists in the eastern part of the country.

The announcement on Saturday indicated that the involved parties have established a roadmap outlining sequenced steps and timelines for talks under a framework agreement initially signed in Doha, Qatar, in November. This development follows five days of negotiations held in Switzerland from August 17 to August 21, which featured representatives from the United States, Qatar, Togo, Switzerland, and the African Union Commission.

Both sides confirmed they have agreed upon a standardized method for reporting ceasefire violations and plan to implement a mechanism to resolve issues related to the execution of the Doha agreement. Furthermore, a ceasefire verification mission is scheduled to arrive on Monday in Minembwe, located in the eastern region of South Kivu province. Earlier this month, as part of the ongoing peace process, the DRC transferred 15 prisoners to the Congo River Alliance (AFC) and M23 in an action facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Despite these diplomatic efforts, the security environment remains precarious, with active fighting continuing on the ground. Lawrence Kanyuka, an AFC/M23 spokesman, alleged on Saturday that DRC coalition forces utilized kamikaze drones to launch air raids against densely populated areas in the Minembwe region earlier that day. He stated that these bombings resulted in civilian casualties and significant damage to civilian infrastructure, though Al Jazeera could not immediately verify the claim.

The United Nations previously warned in July that the security situation across the North and South Kivu provinces in the eastern DRC has deteriorated further due to the increasing deployment of drones by the warring factions. Compounding this crisis is an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the region, which has claimed approximately 2,500 lives since May.

The conflict in the eastern DRC reignited in 2021 when M23 resumed its military offensive, allowing the armed group to capture large areas of territory, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu in early 2025. The violence has resulted in thousands of deaths and displaced an estimated 5.3 million people. Rooted historically in the 1994 genocide by extremist Hutus against Tutsis in Rwanda and the subsequent collapse of the Mobutu Sese Seko government in Zaire, the conflict features mutual accusations. The DRC, the United Nations, and Western governments have accused Rwanda of supporting the ethnic Tutsi-led M23 with troops and weapons, an allegation Kigali denies. In response, Rwanda accuses the DRC of supporting Hutu militias such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a claim that Kinshasa also denies. Notably, the United States successfully brokered a separate peace deal between the DRC and Rwanda last year.