Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has expressed deep concern over renewed hostilities and fighting in eastern DRC and called on warring parties to embrace dialogue.
The Facilitator of the EAC-Led Nairobi Peace Process convened an urgent meeting on Tuesday with the EAC Technical Advisory Team following the escalation of fighting and targeted killings in the Itivu and North Kivu regions.
"Following the advice of his technical advisors, the facilitator once again called for a calm and immediate cessation of hostilities. The facilitator expressed his deep concern about the serious violation of the Nairobi principles and the Luanda agreement," a statement from the peace team said.
Fresh fighting has flared up in eastern DRC where M23 rebels last Friday seized the strategic town of Kitshanga.
The DRC’s army withdrew from the region in what it said was a tactical move to protect civilians amid the renewed onslaught from the rebel fighters.
"We have tactically withdrawn from the city in order to attract these genocidal forces deep into the city and avoid the worst for our people in Kitshanga. We are making every effort to dislodge this enemy," the army spokesman for the military governor of North Kivu Colonel Guillaume Ndjike told the AFP news agency.
Uhuru called for an urgent return to the negotiating table for the purposes of promoting trust and confidence among the parties to the conflict and alleviating further suffering to the people in eastern DRC.
"The facilitator remains committed to the course of building peace in eastern DRC and continues to call on regional leaders and the international community to lend their political goodwill and support," the statement said.
