Fresh clashes between M23 rebels and soldiers erupted in eastern DR Congo on Thursday, officials said, as the militia declared that it was not bound by a ceasefire agreement.
M23 spokesman Willy Ngoma told AFP that the deal brokered between the Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Angola on Wednesday was irrelevant.
"We are Congolese, not Rwandan," he said. "If there's a ceasefire, it can only be between us and the Congolese government."
The announcement comes after talks between the DRC's leader Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda's Paul Kagame in Angola on Wednesday raised the prospect of a ceasefire between the M23 and the Congolese government.
M23 fighters and Congolese troops engaged in fresh clashes in Congo's eastern North Kivu province on Thursday, according to several sources.