The first round of talks between armed groups and the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo concluded [11] April 28 in Nairobi. The Islamist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF [12]) wasn't invited, however, while the Ituri-based CODECO [13] was approached [14] but didn't attend. M23 [15] representatives were meanwhile ordered out [16] after their forces resumed clashes with the DRC military. The list of participants was initially unclear and analysts seemed confused [26] by the meeting's strategy as rebels arrived in dribs and drabs.
The talks followed an East African Community [17] summit in which heads of state agreed to set up a regional military force [18] to fight rebels unwilling to lay down their arms—or return home, in the case of foreign groups. A UN peacekeeping mission operates in the DRC but is making drawdown plans [19]. The Ugandan army is also intervening [20] in the country, while martial law [21] has been declared in the volatile eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu since May 2021. Still, rebel attacks and abuses by soldiers [22] continue, and nearly three million people were displaced last year alone [23].
From The New Humanitarian [27], April 29
