M23 declares ceasefire in DRC's war-torn east

Members of the Congolese Red Cross unload the bodies of the victims of the recent clashes to bury them in a cemetery in Goma on February 3, 2025. [AFP]

Rwandan-backed armed group M23 announced a humanitarian "ceasefire" from Tuesday in DR Congo's perennially explosive east, days before a planned crisis meeting between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Last week, the M23 and Rwandan troops seized Goma -- the provincial capital of North Kivu, a mineral-rich region that has been blighted by war for over three decades.