Angola announced on Tuesday that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda had reached a ceasefire agreement, following a meeting between the foreign ministers of Rwanda and DRC hosted by Angolan President Joao Lourenco at the presidential palace in Luanda's capital.
Kinshasa has long accused Kigali of backing M23 rebels fighting the army in its eastern North Kivu province, an accusation Rwanda denies.
The UN Security Council reported that 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers have been fighting alongside the M23 and that Kigali had "de facto control" of the group's operations.
This latest suspension of hostilities will take effect from midnight on 4 August, as a partially respected humanitarian truce between the M23 and government forces expires. However, it still not clear which parties have agreed to down their arms.
The DRC’s mineral-rich east has been racked for some 30 years by fighting between both local and foreign-based armed groups, including M23 rebels.
The United Nations says more than 1.7 million people have been displaced by fighting in the province, driving up the number displaced by multiple conflicts in the country to over 7 million.
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