Angola Calls for new Ceasefire in DR Congo
Last update: February 12, 2026
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UN team arrives in M23-held city as mediation efforts intensify.
Angola has called on the warring parties in eastern DR Congo to respect a ceasefire starting next week, as a United Nations team arrived on Thursday in a city under M23 armed group control for the past year.
The proposed ceasefire, due to begin on February 18, has yet to be formally agreed by the Congolese government and the M23 but would represent a major step after months of diplomatic efforts to end the conflict amid ongoing fighting.
The resource-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered nearly 30 years of violence from multiple armed groups. The region, which borders Rwanda and Burundi, has been targeted by the Rwanda-backed M23 since its resurgence in 2021.
Angola has recently resumed its mediation efforts and made its ceasefire proposal public. The announcement follows news last week that the United Nations plans to deploy peacekeepers to eastern DRC to help enforce any agreement.
A senior M23 official said the group is “willing” to observe a halt in fighting if the Congolese armed forces stop shooting at them.
Several ceasefires and truces have been signed and broken since late 2021, when the M23 resumed armed operations with support from Rwanda. In January last year, M23 fighters seized the North Kivu provincial capital of Goma, followed by Bukavu in South Kivu province the next month. Thousands were killed in the offensive.
Previous peace efforts led by Qatar and the United States resulted in two separate accords. Qatar has been mediating between the Congolese government and M23 for months, with a ceasefire commitment signed in July.
In December, the DRC and Rwanda formalised a US-brokered peace deal in Washington. However, clashes have continued despite these agreements.
The African Union is now leading talks, with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe heading the mediation and including Angolan President Joao Lourenco in the negotiations. A prior Angolan-led mediation in late 2024 collapsed before a planned summit in Luanda involving the Congolese and Rwandan presidents.
On Monday, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi met with Gnassingbe and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in Luanda.
The agreements call for the United Nations mission in DRC, MONUSCO, to monitor developments on the ground and support the implementation of a permanent ceasefire.
The mission is expected to deploy in Uvira, a city on the Burundi border that the M23 seized in December before withdrawing under pressure from the United States. The closest UN peacekeeping base is in Goma, whose international airport has been closed since the city was captured.
Earlier this week, the UN sought security guarantees from both sides to allow its forces to use the airport.
On Thursday, acting head of MONUSCO Vivian van de Perre landed in Goma by UN helicopter, calling it “an important milestone after a prolonged interruption of air access.”
CBI News reports that Van de Perre said she will support preparations for monitoring and verifying the ceasefire and expressed hope that the withdrawal of M23 from Uvira and pressure from Washington will help the ceasefire materialise.
