Rebels in eastern Congo refused Thursday to honour a ceasefire pact because of efforts by Angola.
The March 23 Movement (M23) and the Congo River Alliance (AFC) said they were not invited to ceasefire discussions on Tuesday and were not involved in the agreement between DRC and Rwanda.
A statement added the deal does not bind rebels to the agreement.
The two rebel forces that are under the coordination of former president of Congo's National Independent Electoral Commission, Corneille Nangae, are said to have 3,000 soldiers, in addition to 4,000 soldiers from the Rwandan Defence Forces, according to the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
DRC-Rwanda ceasefire
The recent flare-up of fighting in eastern DRC has led to tensions between Kigali and Kinshasa.
DRC accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels since their resurgence in November 2021 – a claim Kigali consistently denies.
Angolan President Joao Lourenco was mandated by the African Union to lead efforts to provide a political settlement to the crisis in eastern DRC, where the M23 group is battling government forces.
A ministerial meeting on the security and peace situation in eastern DRC was held on Tuesday in the Angolan capital of Luanda, in which DRC and Rwanda agreed on a new ceasefire deal from midnight August 4.
Monitoring
The ceasefire would be monitored by an ad hoc reinforced verification mechanism.
At least 20 ADF militants were killed by Congolese armed forces in Lolwa in the territory of Mambasa in Ituri, according to the military.
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