The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has released 15 prisoners and handed them over to rebels from the Congo River Alliance/March 23 movement (AFC/M23) in the east of the country.
The release was announced by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated this first known transfer of prisoners under last year’s Qatar-mediated deal to end the fighting in the region.
The handover happened on Thursday and Friday after months of talks thrashing out the names of detainees to be freed.
An ICRC statement said the 15 prisoners agreed to be transferred before leaving the government-held eastern Congolese city of Beni in a convoy on Thursday evening.
The journey continued through Uganda before the convoy arrived in Rutshuru Territory in DRC’s North Kivu province, where the prisoners were handed over to AFC/M23 on Friday, the statement added.
Read more here.
