Rwanda-backed rebels who seized a major city in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have declared a unilateral ceasefire, citing humanitarian grounds. The M23 rebels are backed by 4, troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to UN experts, far more than in when they first briefly captured Goma. The fighting has upended lives in the city of two million people, prompting hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict to carry what was left of their belongings and flee again.
Thousands poured into neighbouring Rwanda. M23 says it is defending ethnic Tutsis in Congo. Rwanda has claimed the Tutsis are being persecuted by Hutus and former militias responsible for the genocide of , Tutsis and others in Rwanda. The regional blocs of southern and eastern Africa have called for a ceasefire. He added that the presidents of Congo and Rwanda will attend.
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