KINSHASA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), known as MONUSCO, on Tuesday announced the deployment of a joint exploratory assessment mission to Uvira, a strategic city in the country's east, from Feb. 23 to 27, to prepare for the establishment of a joint ceasefire monitoring mechanism.

Locals are pictured in downtown Uvira city, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Dec. 12, 2025. (Photo: Xinhua)

Presented as an essential prelude to any future deployment, the mission, conducted in coordination with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), an intergovernmental organization, aims to determine whether operational conditions are in place to ensure a monitoring mechanism that is "credible, safe and operationally feasible," MONUSCO said in a statement.

Teams on the ground are expected to assess access, security guarantees, available logistics, and engagement modalities with local actors in Uvira, which currently serves as the administrative center of South Kivu Province after the provincial capital, Bukavu, was seized by the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group in February 2025.

The mission follows consultations with DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, who also serves as chair of the ICGLR, and forms part of the ceasefire architecture stemming from a framework agreement signed with the M23 in Doha, Qatar, on Nov. 15, 2025, MONUSCO said.

It stressed that this remains a strictly exploratory phase and that the scale of any future deployment will depend on agreed parameters and, above all, effective security guarantees.

"Effective ceasefire monitoring is intended to reduce violence and create the necessary space for a durable political solution," the statement quoted Vivian van de Perre, MONUSCO's acting head, as saying.

Uvira, the second-largest city in South Kivu, was retaken by DRC government forces in January 2026.

The UN mission's announcement comes amid heightened tensions in Uvira territory and the South Kivu highlands region, where clashes continue between government forces and allied groups on the one side and M23 rebels on the other, despite ongoing diplomatic initiatives.

Fresh fighting has been reported since Monday in the mining areas of Rubaya in Masisi territory, North Kivu province.

On Tuesday morning, intense clashes involving shelling were still ongoing around the town of Rubaya, according to M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka, despite a truce proposed by Angola that was due to take effect on Feb. 18.