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DRC government and M23 rebels agree in Switzerland to protect civilians and allow aid.
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 rebel group agreed, after five days of talks in Montreux, Switzerland, to protect civilians and allow unobstructed humanitarian aid in the conflict-scarred east of the country. Both sides also committed to providing medical care to the wounded and releasing prisoners within ten days, and to establishing a ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism.
The agreement built on a US-brokered peace deal reached in December 2025, even as fighting had continued in the highlands of South Kivu. Mediation involved Qatar, the United States, Switzerland, the African Union Commission and Togo, reflecting the tangled international interest in a conflict that has displaced huge numbers of people since M23 – widely reported to be backed by Rwanda – seized swathes of eastern DRC from 2021 onward.
For a region that has endured decades of violence, any commitment to spare civilians and let aid flow is significant, if fragile. The real test lies in implementation: whether the guns fall silent long enough for displaced families to return, and whether the monitoring mechanism has the teeth to hold both sides to their word.
This story was put together by K N N from material first published by Al Jazeera.
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 rebel group agreed, after five days of talks in Montreux, Switzerland, to protect civilians and allow unobstructed humanitarian aid in the conflict-scarred east of the country. Both sides also committed to providing medical care to the wounded and releasing prisoners within ten days, and to establishing a ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism.
The agreement built on a US-brokered peace deal reached in December 2025, even as fighting had continued in the highlands of South Kivu. Mediation involved Qatar, the United States, Switzerland, the African Union Commission and Togo, reflecting the tangled international interest in a conflict that has displaced huge numbers of people since M23 — widely reported to be backed by Rwanda — seized swathes of eastern DRC from 2021 onward.
For a region that has endured decades of violence, any commitment to spare civilians and let aid flow is significant, if fragile. The real test lies in implementation: whether the guns fall silent long enough for displaced families to return, and whether the monitoring mechanism has the teeth to hold both sides to their word.
