UN to deploy ceasefire monitoring mission to eastern DR Congo

The United Nations has announced that it would shortly send a peacekeeping mission to the city of Uvira in eastern DR Congo in order to closely monitor adherence to the ceasefire in the region.

Is it a further glimpse of hope for eastern DRC? The United Nations is set to send a ceasefire monitoring mission to Uvira in eastern DR Congo in the next days, as announced on Monday by one of the main mediators in the DRC conflict, Qatar.

At the meeting in Doha on Monday between representatives from both the M23 rebel group and the Congolese government, both sides agreed to set up a way to monitor a "permanent ceasefire", according to Qatar.

The monitoring mission from the UN in Uvira is a first step in this direction.

Uvira is key strategic point in the region and was captured in a rapid offensive in December by the rebel group M23/AFC.

Congolese armed forces retook Uvira last month after the rebels agreed to withdraw from the city.

It is not yet clear when exactly the mission will arrive in Uvira.

Soldiers from Guatemala participating in the mission already left their country in a farewell ceremony on Saturday.