DR Congo, Lebanon, Eritrea

Today's three stories you should know

DR Congo

As mentioned in Proximities yesterday, there was some skepticism about whether a peace deal signed yesterday in Washington, D.C. by the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda would lead to a quick end to violence in eastern DRC. Today, that skepticism was proven correct as residents of the border region, where the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has been battling Congolese government forces, said fighting had intensified. “Yesterday, we saw that agreements were signed, but we don’t see any positive impact on this situation, and that worries us,” Samson Alimasi, a resident of Kamanyola, told the AP. “We only see bombs falling without knowing which side they are coming from.” U.S. President Donald Trump’s involvement in the talks is partly seen as an attempt to gain access to eastern DRC’s valuable mineral resources.

More from AP here.

Lebanon

A split has emerged between Lebanon’s government and the country’s Hezbollah movement about whether talks should be expanded with Israel, which has violated a truce it agreed with Hezbollah more than a year ago thousands of times. President Joseph Aoun defended the negotiations, saying there was “no going back” but Hezbollah called the talks a “blunder.” Lebanon and Israel have officially been at war for more than 70 years and meetings between their leaders are incredibly rare. Israel wants the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah and there are fears it may step up its ceasefire violations to apply pressure.

More from Reuters here.

Eritrea

Thirteen people held without trial for 18 years have been freed from Eritrea’s most notorious military prison, relatives told the BBC. Several high-profile detainees were among the group, including 69-year-old Olympian cyclist and businessman Zeragaber Gebrehiwot. They had been held at Mai Serwa prison, where rights groups say political prisoners are held incommunicado and left to swelter in shipping containers. The Eritrean government did not comment and it was not immediately clear why the men had been released. President Isaias Afwerki, 79, came to power in 1993 as the leader of a rebel group that won the country independence from Ethiopia. Since then, he has never held elections.

More from BBC here.