{"id":52215,"date":"2024-12-11T21:19:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T21:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/tshisekedi-calls-for-strong-military-response-amid-m23-and-regional-crisis\/"},"modified":"2024-12-11T21:19:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T21:19:20","slug":"tshisekedi-calls-for-strong-military-response-amid-m23-and-regional-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/tshisekedi-calls-for-strong-military-response-amid-m23-and-regional-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Tshisekedi calls for strong military response amid M23 and regional crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a speech delivered to both chambers of the DRC Parliament on December 11, 2024, Tshisekedi acknowledged that the country&#8217;s development efforts are under threat with the ongoing insecurity.<\/p>\n<p>He out rightly accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 group, which has been operating since November 2021, and of continuing to control territories such as Rutshuru, Masisi, Nyiragongo, and Lubero, causing mass displacement of civilians.<\/p>\n<p>Rwanda has repeatedly dismissed the accusations as baseless, instead blaming the DRC\u2019s military of collaborating with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) remnants of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.<\/p>\n<p>President Tshisekedi reiterated his position in late 2023, declaring his intent to take military action against Rwanda if M23 fired at the city of Goma, and even suggested offering support in ousting President Paul Kagame from office.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Tshisekedi\u2019s claims of military success, the M23 rebel group has continued to expand its positions in North Kivu, capturing new territories in Walikale in October 2024 and gaining ground in Lubero, including areas of Kaseghe and Mathembe.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-78590 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/t1-9-c53e0.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>The Congolese Head of State commended the efforts of his armed forces, the Wazalendo militia, and the support of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which deployed additional troops to the North Kivu region for one year.<\/p>\n<p>Tshisekedi also hailed the role of Angola in the ongoing peace talks, led by President Jo\u00e3o Louren\u00e7o as the mediator appointed by the African Union, which has been facilitating dialogue between Rwanda and the DRC since 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Despite support for peace talks in Angola, Tshisekedi expressed skepticism, stating that he does not see negotiations as the sole solution. He emphasized the importance of military reforms, which he initiated in 2023 to improve the effectiveness of the DRC\u2019s armed forces.<\/p>\n<p>President Tshisekedi&#8217;s message comes ahead of the scheduled Luanda talks on December 15, 2024, where he is expected to meet with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame with Angola&#8217;s Jo\u00e3o Louren\u00e7o as the host.<\/p>\n<p>The outcome of these discussions remains uncertain, as both countries remain at crossroads over the situation in Eastern DRC.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-78589 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/minisitiri_w_intebe_wa_rdc_judith_suminwa_tuluka_yakurikiye_ijambo_rya_perezida_tshisekedi-8363e.jpg\" alt=\"DRC&#039;s Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka took part in the Presidential address.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-78591 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/tshis-7-21c57.jpg\" alt=\"Tshisekedi addresses both chambers of the DRC Parliament on December 11, 2024.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-78592 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/ths-8c6f6.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi, has singled out his country\u2019s energized military forces as a key factor to restoring peace and security in the eastern region, despite international calls for negotiations with the M23 rebel group to resolve the ongoing crisis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":2000078588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-52215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000078588,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-136.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-136.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-136.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-136.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-136.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-136.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000078588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52215"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=52215"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=52215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}