US President Donald Trump is expected to host the leaders of DR Congo and Rwanda - Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame - in the coming weeks to seal a peace agreement that he has hailed as a "glorious triumph", hoping to back it up with deals that will boost US investment in the region.

Moves to end fighting in eastern Congo that are essential to U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for a mining bonanza in the region are meant to get underway by Sunday, but the future of a small rebel group has emerged as one of the major obstacles.

The Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) said on Saturday, July 27, that its troops in eastern DR Congo had captured the stronghold of the CODECO, one of the militias accused of atrocities in the conflict-ridden Ituri Province.

Akalla mutane 40 ne aka tabbatar da mutuwarsu a Jamhuriyar Demokradiyar Congo bayan da wani da ƴan tawayen ADF suka kai wani coci a arewa maso gabashin ƙasar a yau Lahadi, harin da ya kawo karshen

The 53-year-old led DR Congo for 18 years, after succeeding his father Laurent, who was shot dead in 2001. Joseph Kabila was just 29 at the time. He handed power to President Félix Tshisekedi following a disputed election in 2019, but they later fell out.

On the face of it, Uganda’s intervention in eastern Congo is less controversial than that of M 23 and Rwanda. The government in Kinshasa has condemned M 23’s advance farther south as an invasion. A peace deal with Rwanda in June and an agreement with M 23 on July 19th are supposed to restore Congolese control over the area.