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By AFP Published on: March 19, 2026 07:33 (EAT)

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Residents and shopkeepers sort belongings in front of a building damaged during looting following overnight gunfire in Goma, March 16, 2026. (Photo by Jospin Mwisha / AFP)

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The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda agreed during talks in Washington to take “concrete steps” to ease tensions and advance a peace accord struck last year, a joint statement said.

Conflict in the mineral-rich eastern DRC, where the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group controls key cities, has continued despite the two neighbors signing a peace deal with US President Donald Trump last year.

“On March 17-18, 2026, representatives from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda met in Washington, D.C. and agreed to concrete steps to further implementation of” last year’s agreement, a joint US-DRC-Rwandan statement said.

The new pledge comes days after the United States ramped up pressure on Rwanda over the conflict, slapping sanctions on its military and imposing visa restrictions on several unspecified senior officials.

Thousands of Rwandan troops are deployed across eastern DRC, “where they actively engage in combat operations and facilitate M23’s control of territory,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on March 2.

Rwanda said the US sanctions were “unjustly targeting only one party,” accusing the DRC of violating the peace agreement with “indiscriminate drone attacks and ground offensives.”

Rwanda has denied supporting the M23 and has long pressed Kinshasa to crack down on the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Hutu militants linked to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The joint statement on Wednesday said both countries had agreed to “a series of coordinated steps to de-escalate tensions and advance progress on the ground.”

They include “a mutual commitment to specific measures to support each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the scheduled disengagement of forces/lifting of defensive measures by Rwanda in defined areas in DRC territory, time-bound and intensified efforts by the DRC to neutralize the FDLR, and the protection of all civilians.”

Key Middle East energy sites under fire

By AFP Published on: March 19, 2026 07:08 (EAT)

A picture taken at sunset on March 17, 2026 shows a general view of the Musel E-Hub regasification terminal in the Spanish city of Gijon.

Qatar’s main gas facility has suffered extensive damage after several rounds of Iranian strikes, causing new energy supply fears as the Middle East war grinds on.

Here is a look at some of the key energy facilities that have been targeted in the US-Israel war with Iran.

– Ras Laffan –

Ras Laffan in Qatar is the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub.

It has been repeatedly targeted by Iranian strikes since the war began, and has now suffered “extensive damage” after back-to-back waves of hits, state-run QatarEnergy said.

Early Thursday, QatarEnergy reported “sizeable fires” and significant damage at several LNG facilities at the hub.

That came after an earlier attack on the Ras Laffan Industrial City on Wednesday had already caused extensive damage to a gas-to-liquids facility.

Qatar shares the world’s largest natural gas reservoir with Iran.

QatarEnergy estimates the Gulf state’s portion of the reservoir, the North Field, holds about 10 percent of the world’s known natural gas reserves.

In recent years, Qatar has inked a series of long-term LNG deals with France’s Total, Britain’s Shell, India’s Petronet, China’s Sinopec and Italy’s Eni, among others.

Earlier in March, Iranian attacks forced QatarEnergy to halt LNG production and declare force majeure.

– South Pars –

Iran’s strikes on Ras Laffan come after its South Pars/North Dome field was hit on Wednesday.

The South Pars mega-field is the largest known gas reserve in the world, and supplies around 70 percent of Iran’s domestic natural gas.

The strikes on the field, which it shares with Qatar, caused a fire, Iranian state television said.

The strike was condemned by some of Iran’s Gulf neighbours, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, who have seen energy facilities in their countries come under repeated Iranian attack.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Israel had carried out the attack and Washington “knew nothing” about it.

But he warned that if Iran continued attacks against Qatar, US forces would “massively blow up the entirety” of the South Pars field.

– Kharg –

Kharg island, around 30 kilometres off Iran’s mainland, is a hub for roughly 90 percent of the country’s crude oil exports.

It was hit in US strikes on Saturday, but Iranian officials said afterwards that exports were continuing normally and there had been no casualties.

Trump had threatened to target the island’s oil infrastructure if Iran continues to block the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passage for energy and other exports from the region.

Iran has pledged to block export of all oil through the strait, and has targeted vessels attempting to transit the narrow chokepoint, wreaking havoc on exports reliant on the passage.

– Ruwais refinery –

The Ruwais oil refinery, in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, is the world’s fourth largest single-site refinery, according to state-owned operator Adnoc.

Operations there were halted earlier this month as a “precaution” after a drone attack on the industrial complex housing the facility, a source told AFP.

The source did not say whether the refinery had been hit. Adnoc did not make an official announcement.

– Ras Tanura –

The Ras Tanura facility along Saudi Arabia’s eastern Gulf coast is home to one of the largest refineries in the entire Middle East and a cornerstone of the kingdom’s energy sector.

The complex has a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day.

It has been repeatedly targeted in Iranian strikes, including a drone attack early in the conflict that caused a fire and forced a partial shutdown of the refinery.

Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed source, that operations had now resumed at the facility.

Gulf countries’ output of oil and oil products has plunged from 30 million barrels per day last year, excluding Oman, to 20 million currently, according to the International Energy Agency.

The president of Aramco, which operates the refinery, has warned the war could have “catastrophic consequences” on oil markets.

On Thursday, oil surged more than five percent, with Brent spiking to a peak of over $112 a barrel.

Man charged for allegedly killing 100-year-old mother in Kericho

The Director of Public Prosecutions has charged a man in Kericho for allegedly killing his elderly mother over the inheritance of a property.

Julius Cheruiyot Bett allegedly rammed and killed his mother, 100, with a motor vehicle on March 7, 2026, at Kiptere location, Sigowet sub-county.

The prosecution, led by David Fedha, told the court that the incident happened after Bett pestered his mother for inheritance of the property.

He was charged with the offence of murder contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the penal code and pleaded not guilty before Justice Joseph Sergon.

The court denied the accused bond after the prosecution opposed his release on bond.

The matter will be mentioned on May 12, 2026 for pre-trial.