Xavier Radio Ug News 24 7
The United States has imposed sanctions on the Rwanda Defence Force, RDF and top military officials over their role in ongoing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, and called for their immediate withdrawal from the mineral-rich region.
Rwanda has long rejected allegations from DRC, 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.
However, the US Treasury Department says the rebels’ gains would have been impossible without Rwandan backing.
The State Department says separately that Rwanda’s support had enabled “horrific human rights abuses.”
In an emailed statement to Reuters, Rwanda’s government says the sanctions unjustly targeted only one party to the peace process and “misrepresent the reality and distort the facts of the conflict.”
The statement says Kigali was “fully committed to disengagement of its forces in tandem with the DRC implementing their obligations” under US-led mediation, but accused DRC of failing to keep promises such as ending support for militias.
DRC’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
Rwanda and DRC 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 DRC city of Uvira, near the Burundian border, in the war’s biggest escalation for months.
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 DRC on several fronts.
Over the weekend, Congolese officials accused the 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.
Related video | Rwanda-DRC Peace Deal
www.sabcnews.com, https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/us-imposes-sanctions-on-rwanda-military-over-drc-fighting/
