Top UN official calls for immediate ceasefire in eastern DR Congo

United Nations special envoy to Congo, Bintou Keita, called for an immediate cease fire and an end to hostilities "without conditions" by Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern Congo.

"There is no military solution that will end this suffering. Peace, security and development in eastern DRC require an end to violence and the commitment to inclusive dialog and reconciliation," Keita told reporters during a briefing Friday.

Rwanda-backed rebels have captured two key cities in Congo’s mineral-rich east in less than a month after a major escalation in their yearslong fighting against overstretched and weakened Congolese forces.

With the support of thousands of troops from neighboring Rwanda, the M23 rebels first took Goma last month before marching to Bukavu this weekend in an unprecedented advance since they took up arms more than a decade ago, further raising fears of a regional war.

The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, over 1,000 miles away.

M23 is one of about 100 armed factions vying for control in eastern Congo. But unlike the others, they are mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who failed to integrate into the Congolese army.

The group says it is defending ethnic Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination, although critics say their Rwanda-backed campaign is a pretext for economic and political influence over eastern Congo.

M23 is being supported with troops and weapons from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.S. and U.N. experts.

Rwanda’s longtime President Paul Kagame accuses Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi of overlooking the concerns of Congo’s ethnic Tutsis and ignoring previous peace agreements.

Keita, who also heads the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, said that following the fall of Goma, 1,400 high risk individuals have sought protection from MONUSCO, and that the situation has become unsustainable.

"MONUSCO urgently calls for safe, dignified and internationally supported solution for the transfer of these individuals to an alternative, secure location in full respect of their rights and choices," said Keita. "The continued occupation of parts of North Kivu by the M23, supported by the Rwandan Defense Forces, has severely constrained MONUSCOS's ability to fully implement its mandate in the province."

Keita said MOMUSCO also "strongly condemns the continued activities and the atrocities committed by the Allied Democratic Forces, ADF, whose brutal attacks on civilians have caused immense suffering in eastern DRC."

The U.N. Human Rights Council this month launched a commission that will investigate atrocities, including allegations of rapes and killings akin to “summary executions” by both sides.