Latest news with #militia
LBCI
12 hours ago
- LBCI
Thirteen killed, including three children, in Sudan paramilitary strikes on Darfur city: AFP
Paramilitary shelling of the besieged Darfur city of El-Fasher in western Sudan killed 13 people, including 3 children, on Friday, a medical source told AFP on condition of anonymity for their safety. "Another 21 people were injured due to the artillery shelling from the Rapid Support militia," the source said, referring to the Rapid Support Forces, at war with the regular army since April 2023. AFP
CBS News
14 hours ago
- Business
- CBS News
Trump celebrates U.S.-brokered peace deal between Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda
Washington — President Trump on Friday celebrated the signing of a U.S.-brokered peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, marking what the Trump administration hopes will be the end of a deadly conflict that has spanned nearly three decades. The agreement brokered by the Trump administration is an effort to stop the bloodshed in the eastern part of the DRC, where a militia allegedly backed by Rwanda occupies large pieces of land. Rwanda has denied directly backing the rebels. Officials from both countries signed the agreement in Washington this week. "So we're here today to celebrate a glorious triumph, and that's what it is, for the cause of peace," Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office. "This is a long time waiting. The signing of a historic peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda. The conflict has continued and it's been going on for many, many years. It's been going from, I guess they say 30 years." The region has been unstable for decades, and conflict in eastern Congo has led to thousands of deaths recently, and about 6 million deaths over the last three decades, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. The conflict has spawned a humanitarian crisis and widespread displacement in eastern DRC. Mr. Trump said the U.S. will be "putting a lot of pressure" on the countries to honor the agreement. "I will just say that there are big penalties if they violate," Mr. Trump said, including financial penalties. But, he added, he thinks they'll remain in peace. The agreement allows for U.S. access to the DRC's deposits of minerals, such as gold, copper and lithium. Mr. Trump on Friday took credit not just for the DRC-Rwanda agreement, but for his administration's role in intervening in other conflicts, too. "This is a tremendous breakthrough," he said. "In a few short months, we've now achieved peace between India and Pakistan, India and Iran, and the DRC and Rwanda, and a couple of others, also." Vice President JD Vance also praised the president's role in the DRC-Rwanda deal. "If I think about what I know about these two countries, for 30 years, pretty much the entire time that I can remember these two countries being in the news, much of the story has been about them fighting one another, about them killing one another," Vance said. "And now, we can look forward to a future where my children will look at this moment as the beginning of a new story, a story of prosperity and peace."
CNN
a day ago
- Politics
- CNN
As two African nations sign a peace deal, Trump wants credit. But some fear peace may still elude them
A peace agreement brokered by the White House to stem the bloodshed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where a militia allegedly backed by Rwanda occupies vast swaths of land, will be signed in Washington D.C. on Friday by officials of the two African nations. But many remain unconvinced that the accord – portrayed as a 'wonderful treaty' by United States President Donald Trump – can end the complex and long-running conflict, while the militia itself has yet to commit to laying down its weapons. Trump was upbeat about the prospects for peace when teams from Rwanda and the DRC initialed a draft agreement on June 18, while at the same time suggesting that he would not get credit for his role in ending this or other conflicts. On June 20, he wrote on Truth Social: 'This is a Great Day for Africa and, quite frankly, a Great Day for the World! I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize for this.' He added: 'I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever those outcomes may be, but the people know, and that's all that matters to me!' Trump touts himself as a 'peacemaker' and has expanded his interest in global conflicts to the brutal war in the mineral-rich eastern DRC. His peace deal could also pave the way for America's economic interests in the region, as it eyes access to the DRC's critical minerals. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will preside over the signing of the peace agreement by DRC Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner and her Rwandan counterpart Olivier Nduhungirehe on Friday. More than 7,000 people have been killed, and some one million others displaced since January, when the M23 militia waged a fresh offensive against the Congolese army, seizing control of the two largest cities in the country's east. There has been increasing reports of summary executions – even of children – in occupied areas, where aid groups say they are also witnessing an epidemic of rape and sexual violence. The crisis in the eastern DRC, which shares a border with Rwanda and harbors large deposits of minerals critical to the production of electronics, is a fusion of complex issues. Daniel Kubelwa, a Congolese activist and researcher told CNN that the DRC's feud with Rwanda is 'deeply rooted in colonial-era border disputes, unresolved regional tensions, and the consequences of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.' In that genocide, hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu militias. Rwanda criticizes the DRC, which faces problems with militia violence, for integrating a proscribed Hutu militia group into its army to fight against the mainly Tutsi M23. M23, which first emerged in 2012, is one of the most prominent militias battling for control of the DRC's mineral wealth. The rebel group also claims to defend the interests of the Tutsis and other Congolese minorities of Rwandan origin. UN experts and much of the international community believe that Rwanda backs M23 and supports the rebels with troops, leaving the nation on the cusp of war with the DRC over this alleged territorial violation. The Rwandan government has not acknowledged this claim but insists it protects itself against the Hutu militia operating in the DRC, which it describes as an 'existential security threat to Rwanda.' M23 occupies strategic mining towns in the DRC's eastern provinces of North and South Kivu. In a report in December, the UN Group of Experts on the DRC said they found evidence that minerals 'were fraudulently exported to Rwanda' from the DRC 'and mixed with Rwandan production.' Rwandan President Paul Kagame drew outrage last year when he admitted in a public address that Rwanda was a transit point for minerals smuggled from the DRC but insisted his country was not stealing from its neighbor. Washington's peace accord contains provisions on 'respect for territorial integrity and a prohibition of hostilities,' including 'disengagement, disarmament, and conditional integration of non-state armed groups,' according to a joint statement issued by the US, Rwanda and the DRC on June 18. Other points include 'facilitation of the return of refugees and internally displaced persons, as well as humanitarian access' and the establishment of a 'regional economic integration framework' that could attract significant US investments into Rwanda and the DRC. However, the rebel coalition Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), of which M23 is a key member, told CNN it did not participate in the US-brokered peace process between the Rwandan and Congolese governments, but was instead committed to a separate negotiation process mediated by Qatar in its capital Doha. Asked whether AFC would surrender its arms, Victor Tesongo, a spokesperson for the coalition, said it was 'not there yet' and that it was waiting on developments in Doha. He did not confirm whether airports in the eastern DRC that had been shut by the rebels would reopen for aid supply. Previous truce agreements have failed to bring lasting peace between M23 and the Congolese armed forces. In April, the rebels jointly declared a truce after meeting with representatives of the DRC during negotiations led by Qatar. Fighting flared up days after. Qatar has been facilitating talks after Angolan President João Lourenço quit his mediation role following months of inability to broker peace. Activist Kubelwa told CNN that while the US and Qatar-led peace efforts were commendable, 'any deal that doesn't address the root causes (of the conflict) will only serve as a temporary truce.' One of those root causes, he said, was the 'unfair distribution' of the DRC's mineral wealth, which he claimed, 'benefits a small elite and foreign powers, while ordinary Congolese, especially in the east, suffer displacement and misery.' The DRC is roughly the size of western Europe and is home to more than 100 million people. The Central African nation is also endowed with the world's largest reserves of cobalt – used to produce batteries that power cell phones and electric vehicles – and coltan, which is refined into tantalum and has a variety of applications in phones and other devices. However, according to the World Bank, 'most people in DRC have not benefited from this wealth,' and the country ranks among the five poorest nations in the world. Kubelwa said another trigger for the conflict in the DRC was the country's 'weak institutions' and 'suppression of dissent.' Ahead of signing the US-brokered peace deal, Nduhungirehe, the Rwandan foreign minister, told CNN that his nation was 'committed to supporting the ongoing negotiations,' but warned that ending the conflict 'will depend on the political will and good faith in Kinshasa,' referring to the DRC's government. The DRC foreign minister's office said it would comment on the deal after the document is signed. Congolese human rights activist and Nobel laureate Denis Mukwege has described the deal as 'vague' and tilted in Rwanda's favor. After details of the draft agreement were announced last week, he posted a statement on X criticizing it for failing to recognize 'Rwanda's aggression against the DRC,' which he wrote, 'suggests it (the peace accord) benefits the unsanctioned aggressor, who will thus see its past and present crimes whitewashed as 'economic cooperation.'' He added: 'In its current state, the emerging agreement would amount to granting a reward for aggression, legitimizing the plundering of Congolese natural resources, and forcing the victim to alienate their national heritage by sacrificing justice in order to ensure a precarious and fragile peace.' Congolese political and economic analyst Dady Saleh told CNN he 'remains skeptical' about the ability of the US peace treaty to ensure a path to peace. For Kubelwa, 'a true and lasting solution must go beyond ceasefires and formal agreements. It must include genuine accountability, regional truth-telling, redistribution of national wealth, reform of governance, and a broad national dialogue that includes all Congolese voices not just elites or foreign allies.' 'Without this, peace remains a fragile illusion,' he said.
Sky News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Why hastily declared ceasefires tend to be fragile
Ceasefires that are suddenly declared tend to be pretty fragile. Stable ceasefires usually require a lot of preparation so that everyone on both sides knows what is supposed to happen, and - more importantly - when. And they normally agree on how it will be monitored so one side cannot seize a quick advantage by breaking it suddenly. Without such preparations, and sometimes even with them, ceasefires will tend to be breached - perhaps by accident, perhaps because one side does not exercise full control over its own forces, perhaps as a result of false alarms, or even because a third party - a guerrilla group or a militia, say - choose that moment to launch an attack of their own. 1:23 The important question is whether a ceasefire breach is just random and unfortunate, or else deliberate and systemic - where someone is actively trying to break it. Either way, ceasefires have to be politically reinforced all the time if they are to hold. 0:45 All sides may need to rededicate themselves to it at regular intervals, mainly because, as genuine enemies, they won't trust each other and will remain naturally suspicious at every twitch and utterance from the other side. This is where an external power like the United States plays a critical part. If enemies like Israel and Iran naturally distrust each other and need little incentive to "hit back" in some way at every provocation, it will take US pressure to make them abide by a ceasefire that may be breaking down. Appeals to good nature are hardly relevant in this respect. An external arbiter has to make the continuance of a ceasefire a matter of hard national interest to both sides. And that often requires as much bullying as persuasion. It may be true that "blessed are the peacemakers".
Japan Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Iran stands alone against Trump and Israel, stripped of allies
Iran's leaders are discovering they're on their own against the U.S. and Israel, without the network of proxies and allies that allowed them to project power in the Middle East and beyond. As the Islamic Republic confronts its most perilous moment in decades following the bombing of its nuclear facilities ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump, Russia and China are sitting on the sidelines and offering only rhetorical support. Militia groups Iran has armed and funded for years are refusing or unable to enter the fight in support of their patron. After decades of being stuck in a game of fragile detente, the entire geopolitical order of the Middle East is being redone. The Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel was only the beginning. It led to multiple conflicts and tested decadeslong alliances. It offered Trump, on his return to power this year, a chance to do what no president before him had dared by attacking Iran so aggressively and directly.
