DRC President Felix Tshisekedi has said Congolese armed forces will continue fighting Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo until the mineral-rich country achieves victory.

Tshisekedi, who was interacting with diplomats accredited to DRC on Tuesday, said “No dialogue will take place with our aggressor (Rwanda) as long as it occupies, whatever the extent, a portion of our territory,” said Tshisekedi.

United Nations reports last year released satellite images showing Rwandan troops crossing into DRC to help M23 rebels, a claim Kigali denies.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame accuses Tshisekedi of failing to honor his commitments to M23 rebels, hence the resurgence of the rebellion.

However, Tshisekedi said DRC remains a “victim of Rwanda’s aggression”, adding, “My government reiterates the non-negotiable nature of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC.”

The diplomats had asked if Tshisekedi would consider talks with the insurgents currently operating in North Kivu.

The President insisted that “FARDC (Congolese armed forces) will remain, whatever the extent, whatever the cost, committed in pursuit of the enemy (M23 rebels/Rwanda army).”

The United Nations in December 2023 said the number of internally displaced has reached a record 6.9 million amid escalating conflict, with humanitarian needs soaring.

 The UN migration agency (IOM) stressed that the DRC is facing “one of the largest” internal displacement and humanitarian crises in the world and that the most recent escalation of the conflict has “uprooted more people in less time, like rarely seen before”.

Four in every five internally displaced persons live in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, and Tanganyika. In North Kivu alone, up to one million people have been displaced due to the ongoing conflict with the rebel group M23.

Tshisekedi last year threatened to ask the DRC Parliament for authorization to declare war on Rwanda – a move Kagame said would attract severe consequences for Kinshasa.

“I told powerful friends of ours that when it comes to defending this country which has suffered for so long and nobody came to help, I don’t need permission from anybody,” said Kagame during the annual National Umushyikirano (Dialogue) in Kigali in January 2024.

“We have to do what we have to do to protect ourselves,” said Kagame.

Backed by Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC) forces, FARDC has in recent weeks stepped up drone and artillery attacks on M23 rebels in North Kivu, killing hundreds of insurgents.

The rebels accuse Kinshasa of indiscriminate bombing which has killed dozens of civilians.

President Tshisekedi yesterday launched a new appeal to the UN authorities, the African Union and regional organisations to initiate targeted sanctions against Rwandan and M23 officials who violate the sovereignty of the DRC.