Who are the M23?published at 10:05 Greenwich Mean Time
Image source, AFPAfter being expelled from DR Congo, the M23 took up arms again in 2021
The M23 movement emerged in 2012 and takes its name from a
peace agreement that was signed on March 23 2009.
That deal ended an earlier bout of fighting and was supposed
to see the integration of another rebel group, known as the National
Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), into the national army.
The M23’s founders, who had been part of the CNDP,
complained that that was not happening. They said they were protecting the
rights of Tutsi minority communities in DR Congo.
Shortly after its creation, M23 rapidly gained territory and
seized Goma resulting in international criticism and accusations
of war crimes and human rights violations, which it denied.
In the aftermath of its withdrawal from Goma, the M23 suffered a
series of heavy defeats at the hands of the Congolese army, which was backed by a
multinational force. The M23 were subsequently expelled from the country.
M23 fighters then agreed to be re-integrated into the army
in return for promises that Tutsis would be protected.
But, in 2021, the group took up arms again, saying the
promises had been broken.
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