African leaders have held talks to revive peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo amid a resurgence in fighting that has killed at least 14 people this week, including two South African soldiers.
Congolese authorities have blamed the latest round of violence on the M23 rebel group, with reports indicating the group was advancing on the provincial capital Goma.
The meeting on Friday in Addis Ababa was convened by Angolan President João Lourenço, the chief mediator in the conflict, and was attended by DR Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame.
Other leaders in attendance were South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenya's William Ruto.
Peace process
The meeting came on the eve of a two-day AU summit that opens in the Ethiopian capital on Saturday.
Angolan state news agency Angop said the mini-summit would "discuss the relaunch of the peace process" in eastern Congo.
Several diplomatic efforts have so far failed to quell the violence between the M23 rebel group and the Congolese army.
Kinshasa, along with the United Nations and Western countries, accuse Rwanda of backing the rebels, a charge Kigali denies.
The latest flare-up has forced thousands of civilians to flee the town of Sake on the way to Goma.
Joint offensive
South Africa announced this week the deployment of 2,900 soldiers to the region.
Last month, the Congolese military announced the start of a joint offensive with troops from south African countries, with a mandate mainly targeting the M23 rebels.
The deployment coincided with the phased withdrawal of UN peacekeeping mission in DRC (MONUSCO), expected to withdraw by the end of December.
The 16-member state Southern African Development Community (SADC) approved the mission to eastern DR Congo in May last year.
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