Analysis-In Congo, army and rebels dig in for war Trump says is over
Sonia Rolley, Jessica Donati and Ange Kasongo
Thu, September 18, 2025 at 1:05 AM EDT
KINSHASA (Reuters) -Congo's army and Rwandan-backed rebels are reinforcing military positions and blaming each other for flouting peace accords in an escalation that experts say risks reigniting the simmering conflict, which U.S. President Donald Trump claims to have ended.
The M23 rebels seized two major cities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in January and February, posing the biggest threat to the government in Kinshasa in two decades. The offensive raised fears of a return to regional war as neighbouring armies took sides.
There has since been a series of U.S. and Qatari-led peace talks but those efforts have been undermined by mediators rushing to close deals and relying on past agreements ground out by African negotiators before building trust between the warring factions, the experts said.
The rebels want prisoners freed before talks can advance, as well as a power-sharing deal in the parts of Congo they now control. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi's government, meanwhile, refuses to yield authority in territory it has lost, or hand over any prisoners.
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