DR CONGO AGREES TO A CEASEFIRE WITH M23 REBELS IN MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH. (PHOTO).

 DR Congo agrees to a ceasefire with M23 rebels in major breakthrough

The Democratic Republic of the Congo on Friday accepted Angola's proposal for a ceasefire between the government and the AFC/M23 rebel group, the president’s office announced.

It's a long-awaited breakthrough that brings the warring sides closer to an end of decades of conflict in the mineral-rich eastern Congo. They signed a framework agreement for a peace deal in November 2025.

Angola’s President Joao Lourenco earlier this week proposed a ceasefire between the warring parties in eastern Congo from February 18.

The proposal followed a meeting held on Monday in Luanda between Lourenco, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe, mediator of the African Union, and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, one of the African Union facilitators of the peace process in the Congo.

Peaceful solution

The president has agreed to a ceasefire for a peaceful solution to the conflict, a statement by the Congo’s president’s office said, Anadolu Agency reported.

There was no immediate reaction from the AFC/M23 armed group.

But the statement warned that any unilateral consolidation of military positions or any action aimed at altering the balance on the ground during the ceasefire period would seriously compromise the credibility of the process and weaken its prospects.

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said Tuesday MONUSCO would deploy forces in the Congo’s border city of Uvira in South Kivu Province to monitor the ceasefire after their security guarantees were met.

M23 has been at the center of the conflict in eastern Congo. The rebel group controls significant territory in eastern Congo, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu seized early in 2025.