The M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo is ending its insurgency.  We know this because the leader of this African insurgency announced his intention to pursue the group’s aims by political means on its Facebook page.  Don’t you just love living in 2013?

M23 leader Bertram Bisimwa followed through on a call from African leaders to publicly end the rebellion.  The announcement calls on his troops to get ready to disarm, demobilize, and return to peaceful society.  The M23 had been fighting for 20 months, but decided to pack it in after a series of defeats by Democratic Republican of Congo troops and UN-backed forces.  Its surrender is seen as the country’s best chance at peace in years.

At least ten other rebel groups operate in the eastern part of the country; officials say the ethnic Hutu “FDLR Militia” has now moved up to the “top of the list” of militias to tamp down.

“We now speak to other armed groups to surrender because if they don't want to, then we will disarm them by force,” said Congolese Army spokesman Colonel Olivier Hamuli.