United Nations, United States
A few days after the signing of the Washington agreement between Kinshasa and Kigali, the United States on Friday condemned Rwanda’s involvement in the conflict in eastern DRC, where a new offensive by the M23 armed group has raised fears of a “regional conflagration” at the UN.
“Instead of moving toward peace, as we have seen under President Trump’s leadership in recent weeks, Rwanda is leading the region toward more instability and war,” US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said at a Security Council meeting.
While the DRC and Rwanda signed a “peace agreement” on December 4 under the auspices of Donald Trump, the United States “is deeply concerned and increasingly disappointed” by this resurgence of violence, he insisted, denouncing “the scale and sophistication” of Rwanda’s involvement in eastern DRC.
“The Rwandan defense forces have provided material, logistical, and training support and are fighting alongside the M23 in the DRC with approximately 5,000 to 7,000 soldiers as of early December, not counting a possible increase” during the new offensive currently underway, he said
“In recent months, Rwanda has deployed numerous surface-to-air missiles and other heavy and sophisticated weaponry in North and South Kivu to assist the M23,” he added, “and we have credible information about an increase in the use of explosive drones and artillery by the M23 and Rwanda, including strikes in Burundi.”
After seizing the major cities of Goma in January and Bukavu in February, the Rwandan-backed M23 launched a new offensive in early December in the eastern province of South Kivu, along the Burundian border.
On Wednesday, it seized the major city of Uvira, giving it control of the land border between the DRC and Burundi, with the aim of depriving Kinshasa of military support from Bujumbura.
This new offensive “has reawakened the specter of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences,” warned UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix, expressing concern about the “increasingly marked regionalization” of the conflict.
– “Self-defense” –
“The direct or indirect involvement of armed forces and groups from neighboring countries, as well as the cross-border movements of displaced populations and combatants, significantly increase the risk of regional conflagration,” he added, expressing concern about the “progressive fragmentation” of the DRC due to the territorial expansion of the M23 and the establishment of parallel administrations by the movement.
While several Council member states also expressed concern about a regional escalation, Burundian Ambassador Zéphyrin Maniratanga stressed that his country, which has accused Rwanda of bombing its territory, “reserves the right to use self-defense.”
“If these irresponsible attacks continue, it will become extremely difficult to avoid a direct escalation between our two countries,” he said.
His Rwandan counterpart Martin Ngoga assured that his country had “no intention” of going to war with Burundi, repeating instead accusations of ceasefire violations by Bujumbura and Kinshasa.
Congolese Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner condemned the Security Council’s “lack of action” and absence of “concrete measures.”
Despite a resolution adopted in February calling for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops and a ceasefire, “the facts are stark: another town has fallen, a parallel administration has been consolidated, thousands more families have fled, others have been killed, raped, terrorized,” she said, once again calling for sanctions against Rwanda.
In this context, she also called for a “robust” mandate for the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC (MONUSCO), as the Council is set to vote on the renewal of the mission at the end of next week.
French Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont, who is in charge of the dossier, said he had submitted a draft resolution to member states that would “position MONUSCO in a role of supporting all peace efforts,” including “monitoring the ceasefire.”
Humaniterre with AFP
