Congo calls rebels’ ceasefire declaration ‘false communication’ as reports of fighting continue

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GOMA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s government on Tuesday described the unilateral ceasefire declared by Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern Congo as “false communication,” while the United Nations noted reports of heavy fighting with Congolese forces in the region.

The M23 rebels on Monday announced the ceasefire on humanitarian grounds after pleas for the safe passage of aid and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

But “all we are waiting for is the withdrawal of the M23,” Congo’s government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya told journalists.

The M23 last week seized control of Goma, a city of 2 million people at the heart of a region home to trillions of dollars in mineral wealth. It remains under rebel control.

The M23 had been reported to be gaining ground in other areas of eastern Congo and advancing on another provincial capital, Bukavu, in South Kivu.

On Tuesday, U.N, spokesman Stephane Dujarric told journalists they had reports of heavy fighting in South Kivu, though “we don’t have any reports of the M23 moving closer to Bukavu.”

The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts. That’s far more than in 2012, when they briefly captured Goma then withdrew after international pressure. The M23 are the most potent of the more than 100 armed groups active in Congo’s east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world’s technology.

Congo’s government has said it is open to talks to resolve the conflict, but that dialogue must occur within the context of previous peace agreements. Rwanda and the rebels have accused Congo of defaulting on previous agreements.

Regional leaders are meeting Friday and Saturday in Tanzania to discuss the conflict.

Also Tuesday, Congo’s interior minister, Jacquemain Shabani, said the death toll in last week’s fighting had reached 2,000, asserting that bodies had been put into one or more mass graves. Shabani called them “victims of massacres perpetrated by the Rwandan occupation army.”

There was no immediate Rwanda comment.

On Monday, the U.N. health agency said at least 900 people had been killed in the fighting in Goma between the rebels and Congolese forces.

Residents continued to bury bodies.

“I just saw the conditions in which our Congolese brothers were buried, our children who were shot during the events in Goma,” Elisha Dunia, the father of one victim, told The Associated Press at a cemetery in the city. “We are heartbroken, and we ask for peace to return to our country.”

Debors Zuzu, also at the cemetery, said he lost three family members, two in a bomb explosion while another was shot. He said he was devastated.

“Our biggest plea is for the leaders to ensure that the war ends because war has no value. We want peace in Goma,” Zuzu said. “If everyone dies, I don’t know who the leaders will govern.”

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Congo, Bruno Lemarquis, called for the urgent reopening of the airport in Goma, calling it “a lifeline” for the evacuation of wounded people and the delivery of aid.

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Kamale reported from Kinshasa, Congo. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.