Eastern Congo rebel alliance declares ceasefire for humanitarian reasons

JOHANNESBURG - The eastern Congo rebel alliance that includes M23 rebels has declared a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons starting from Tuesday.

This comes after the United Nations (UN) announced that at least 900 people had been killed and more than 2,800 injured in recent fighting in and around Goma.

The conflict between DRC forces and the rebels allegedly backed by Rwanda has also recently resulted in the deaths of peacekeeping soldiers, including 14 South African troops.

The alliance said it had no intention of capturing Bukavu, south Kivu's provincial capital after it seized Congo's largest eastern city of Goma last week.

The Congolese and Rwandan presidents are due to attend a regional peace summit in Tanzania on Friday.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame told CNN during a recent interview that he doesn't know if Rwandan troops are in eastern DRC supporting M23.

"This fighting that has been going on, from its inception, was caused by DRC not by Rwanda. These same people that are fighting for their rights didn't come from here but if you want to ask me, if there's a problem in Congo that concerns Rwanda and that Rwanda will do anything to protect itself, I'd say 100%."