The US on Monday imposed sanctions on the Rwanda Defence Force and top military officials over their role in ongoing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and called for their immediate withdrawal from the mineral-rich region.
Rwanda has long rejected allegations from Congo, the United Nations and Western powers that it supports the AFC/M23 rebel group, which staged a lightning offensive last year and now holds more territory in eastern DRC than ever before.
But the US Treasury Department said in a statement on Monday that the rebels' gains would have been impossible without Rwandan backing. The State Department said separately that Rwanda's support had enabled "horrific human rights abuses."
Rwanda's government said in an statement sent to news agencies that the sanctions unjustly targeted only one party to the peace process and "misrepresent the reality and distort the facts of the conflict."
The statement added that Kigali was "fully committed to disengagement of its forces in tandem with the DRC implementing their obligations" under US-led mediation, but accused Congo of failing to keep promises such as ending support for militias.
Mass graves found in eastern DRC following M23 withdrawal from Uvira
Congo's government said it welcomed the sanctions, describing them as "a strong signal in support of respect" for its territorial integrity and sovereignty.
A spokesperson for AFC/M23 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sanctioned Rwandan officials include army chief of staff Vincent Nyakarundi, as well as the chief of defence staff, the special operations force commander and the commander of the 5th Infantry Division, according to the Treasury Department.
Mediation efforts fail to stop fighting
Rwanda and Congo signed a peace deal in Washington in December as part of US President Donald Trump's push to broker peace in the region and attract billions of dollars in Western investment.
Just days after that ceremony, however, AFC/M23 rebels entered the eastern Congo city of Uvira, near the Burundian border, in the war's biggest escalation for months.
Goma's residents reflect on life a year after DR Congo city fell to M23 rebels
They later pulled out under US pressure, though the Treasury Department said on Monday that the rebels' continued presence near Burundi's border "carries the risk of escalating the conflict into a broader regional war."
Fighting continues in eastern Congo on several fronts.
Over the weekend Congolese officials accused AFC/M23 of launching a drone attack on the airport in the strategic city of Kisangani, hundreds of kilometres from any active front lines.
AFC/M23 claimed responsibility for the attack late Monday.
(Reuters)
