The night before (local time), the rebels, supported by the Rwandan Army, occupied the enclave practically without fighting, according to local sources who spoke to Radio Okapi.

The city had been under threat of occupation for several days, and a large part of the population had fled to the neighboring province of Tshopo, but the DRC Armed Forces halted the M23 advance on Monday with the help of local militias known as Wazalendo.

With the capture of Walikale, the rebels are now camped on the RN3 highway, which links four provinces in the east of the country: North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo, and Maniema. They also took control of a mineral-rich region that houses the headquarters of Alphamin Bisie Mining (ABM), whose Bisié mine is the third-largest tin producer in the world, securing six percent of the global supply.

The M23’s operations once again cast doubt on the results of the peace negotiations, which appeared to have seen an important step forward following the meeting between the presidents of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, and Rwanda, Paul Kagame, mediated by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The leaders held talks in Doha on Tuesday, just a day earlier, and committed to an immediate ceasefire and an unconditional cessation of hostilities.

President Tshisekedi said this Wednesday in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro that after the meeting with Kagame, “what will happen next remains to be seen, since the prerequisite for everything was an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”

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