A ceasefire monitoring mission has arrived in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, tasked with verifying a fragile truce between government forces and M23 rebels.
United Nations and government sources said Monday the team deployed to track progress under the Qatari-mediated agreement.
Fighting has continued on the ground despite the formal ceasefire, underscoring how distant peace remains in the mineral-rich region.
The mission moved into Minembwe, a flashpoint in South Kivu province where clashes have raged for months.
Switzerland announced Sunday that Kinshasa and M23 had agreed a roadmap for peace talks after closed-door negotiations.
That roadmap paved the way for the mission to investigate violations of the ceasefire signed in Doha last July.
Congolese government representatives and M23 members make up the mission, alongside observers from the Great Lakes region bloc.
The UN’s peacekeeping force in Congo, MONUSCO, provided logistical support for the deployment, local journalists reported.
Investigators plan to visit Uvira, from which M23 withdrew in January, and Kalehe, where fresh fighting erupted recently.
Armed groups including the Alliance Fleuve Congo and M23 have battled for control of Congo’s resource-rich eastern provinces for years.
Rebels seized wide swathes of territory last year and pushed toward Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu.
Qatar and the United States have brokered separate peace efforts, producing two accords meant to end the bloodshed.
Presidents Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame signed a wider peace and economic agreement in December, five months after their initial ceasefire.
Rwanda has long been accused of backing the M23 rebels, a charge Kigali has consistently denied.
On Monday, Congo accused M23 of killing more than 300 people in June and July alone.
The rebel group rejected the allegations, and instead accused government forces of shelling a village near Minembwe.
Each side continues to blame the other for ceasefire violations, leaving the truce’s durability deeply uncertain.