Congo rebels dismiss ceasefire, capture key town
The leader of Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo said on Thursday that a call by Kinshasa and Kigali for an immediate ceasefire “doesn’t concern us” as his forces pushed deeper into Congolese territory by capturing the strategic town of Walikale.
Walikale is the farthest west the rebels have reached in a swift advance since January that has already overrun eastern Congo’s two largest cities.
The conflict, rooted in the fallout from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and competition for mineral riches, is eastern Congo’s worst since a 1998-2003 war that drew in multiple neighbouring countries and resulted in millions of deaths.
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