A SUMMIT of African leaders meeting to address the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday called for an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” within five days.
The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has rapidly seized swathes of territory in the mineral-rich eastern DRC in an offensive that has left thousands dead and displaced vast numbers.
The summit in Tanzania brought together Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi as well as leaders from both the East African Community (EAC) and 16-member Southern African Development Community.
Kagame appeared in person, while Tshisekedi joined via video call.
In the final statement, the summit called for army chiefs from both communities “to meet within five days and provide technical direction on an immediate and unconditional ceasefire”.
It also called for an opening of humanitarian corridors to evacuate the dead and injured.
Meanwhile, fighting was ongoing around 60 kilometres (35 miles) from the South Kivu provincial capital of Bakuvu, local and security sources told AFP.
The M23 took the strategic city of Goma, capital of North Kivu province, last week and is pushing into neighbouring South Kivu in the latest episode of decades-long turmoil in the region.
Rwanda denies supporting the M23 militarily.
But a report by United Nations experts said last year Rwanda had around 4,000 troops in the DRC and profited from smuggling out of the country vast amounts of gold and coltan — a mineral vital for phones and laptops.
Rwanda accuses the DRC of sheltering the FDLR, an armed group created by ethnic Hutus who massacred Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The summit comes amid reports that the M23 is closing on the town of Kavumu in South Kivu, which hosts an airport critical to supplying Congolese troops.
There have also been reports of panic in the provincial capital Bukavu as residents board up shops and seek to escape.
“The border with Rwanda is open but almost impassable because of the number of people trying to cross. It’s total chaos,” they said.