The Democratic Republic of Congo’s faltering peace process with the March 23 Movement (M23) unravelled further after talks scheduled in Doha collapsed on Monday. Kinshasa and the rebel group traded blame for missed invitations, but diplomats said the real impasse lies in disputes over territorial control and prisoner releases. The breakdown comes less than a month after the two sides signed a cease-fire and declaration of principles on 19 July, intended as a roadmap toward a comprehensive peace deal. Within hours of the diplomatic setback, M23 fighters launched a new offensive in South Kivu, seizing the towns of Kalole, Koshongerve, Budodo and the larger city of Kaniola, according to local officials. Heavy fighting was reported for the strategic junction of Nzibira on highway N2-W, while the movement already holds major urban centres Goma and Bukavu captured earlier this year. M23 accused government forces of violating the July truce, saying army shelling caused civilian casualties and a widening humanitarian crisis. Civilian bloodshed has intensified despite repeated cease-fire pledges. The government on Thursday condemned the killing of at least 319 people in North Kivu between 9 and 21 July, a toll confirmed by the UN Human Rights Office and described as one of the worst massacres since M23’s 2022 resurgence. On Sunday, provincial authorities said M23 drone strikes on the gold-mining village of Lwashunga left 11 people dead, while separate raids by CODECO and ADF militants in neighbouring Ituri province killed nine more civilians. Kinshasa has vowed to seek accountability for the attacks and called on regional mediators to salvage the Doha process. Aid agencies warn that renewed hostilities risk displacing hundreds of thousands and further straining already-limited humanitarian resources in eastern Congo.