Delegates from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 rebel group convened in Switzerland on April 14, 2026, for a fresh round of peace negotiations aimed at ending one of Africa’s most intractable conflicts—while violence simultaneously escalated in remote highland territories of South Kivu.
The ninth round of talks, co-moderated by a Qatari delegate and US envoy Massad Boulos, is taking place near Montreux, with security considerations keeping the exact location undisclosed until the last moment. A UN MONUSCO representative is attending as an observer.
The timing of the renewed diplomatic effort is strained by worsening violence on the ground. Fighting has shifted from urban centers like Uvira into harder-to-reach highland areas—the Fizi, Mwenga, Uvira, and Kalehe plateaus—where control of strategic elevations could open routes toward Baraka, Fizi, and southern territories.
The M23, which resumed hostilities in late 2021 with Rwandan backing—Kigali denies this—and seized Goma in early 2025, withdrew from Uvira in recent weeks. Rather than calming the conflict, the withdrawal has dispersed the fighting into increasingly isolated and dangerous zones. Heavy weapons, small arms, and drone strikes have all been deployed, with front lines creeping closer to populated areas.
At least 541 people were admitted to three hospitals in South Kivu with gunshot wounds over a three-month period—165 in Bukavu, 186 in Uvira, and 190 in Fizi. The proportion of combatants among the wounded has risen sharply, indicating intensifying direct engagements.
Humanitarian organisations say access to affected populations has become a matter of negotiation. Around Minembwe, part of the Banyamulenge community—a Tutsi minority in eastern DRC—has been under blockade for more than a year, with food and medical supplies largely cut off.
M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka accused government forces of escalating attacks precisely during the peace talks, calling it ‘a clear intention to sabotage the ongoing peace process.’ The rebels’ political leader, Bertrand Bisimwa, alleged that Kinshasa’s forces shelled villages in Minembwe using Sukhoi aircraft on the eve of the negotiations.
Mediators are pushing for humanitarian corridors, including the potential reopening of Goma and Bukavu airports for aid flights, as a first concrete step toward improving conditions on the ground.
The talks are revisiting previously signed protocols on prisoner exchanges and a ceasefire that have yet to be implemented. Analysts say the gap between diplomatic commitments and battlefield realities has been a persistent feature of efforts to resolve the conflict, which has displaced millions and spawned widespread human rights abuses including mass graves discovered after M23’s withdrawal from Uvira in February 2026.
The US has imposed sanctions on Rwanda’s military over its alleged support for the M23, and the UN Security Council was scheduled to discuss the situation on April 15, 2026.