Former Kenyan leader Uhuru Kenyatta appealed on Wednesday for an end to violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, whose growing problems have fueled diplomatic tensions between DR Congo and Rwanda.
Kenyatta is mediating conflicts in the volatile region on behalf of the seven-nation East African Community (EAC) bloc.
He “expressed deep concern about the deteriorating situation” in North Kivu where fighting has broken out “between various armed groups, the Armed Forces of the (Democratic) Republic of Congo (FARDC) and M23,” the office said in a statement. .
DR Congo vs Rwanda
The statement was released a day after Rwanda shot down a fighter jet from DR Congo that the government in Kigali claimed had violated its airspace.
Kinshasa denied one of the planes flew over Rwanda, and accused Kigali of attacking the jet in what it called an “act of war.”
DR Congo – along with the United States and several European countries – has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting the Tutsi-led M23 rebels, although Kigali has denied the allegations.
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Kenyatta did not mention the fighter jet incident but called for a “cease of all hostilities” and adherence to peace talks in the Angolan capital Luanda and Kenya’s Nairobi that opened a ceasefire.
“Expressing serious concern over the targeted killing of civilians by armed groups and the thousands of internally displaced persons as a result of the two days of fighting in the region, the facilitator once again called for the cessation of all hostilities,” the statement said.
Another attack
Suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) fighters killed at least 23 people in the Beni region of North Kivu province over the weekend, local officials said Monday.
The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group, which has identified the ADF as its central African affiliate.
Also read: ‘I decided to run’: Survivors recount escape from DR Congo genocide
A week earlier on January 15, suspected ADF detonated a bomb in a church in North Kivu, killing at least 14 people and injuring 63.
A number of armed groups roam the mineral-rich east of DR Congo, many of which are a legacy of two regional wars at the end of the 20th century that claimed millions of lives.