The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on the Rwanda Defence Force and several top military officials over their alleged role in the ongoing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, calling for their immediate withdrawal from the mineral-rich region.
Rwanda has consistently denied allegations by Congo, the United Nations and Western powers that it supports the AFC/M23 rebel group, which launched a lightning offensive last year and now controls more territory in eastern DRC than ever before.
However, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said on Monday that the rebels’ territorial gains would have been impossible without Rwandan backing. Separately, the U.S. Department of State said Rwanda’s support had enabled “horrific human rights abuses.”
In an emailed statement to Reuters, Rwanda’s government said the sanctions unfairly targeted only one party to the peace process and “misrepresent the reality and distort the facts of the conflict.”
Kigali said it remains “fully committed to disengagement of its forces in tandem with the DRC implementing their obligations” under U.S.-led mediation, but accused Congo of failing to honour commitments, including ending support for militias.
A spokesperson for AFC/M23 did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Those sanctioned include army chief of staff Vincent Nyakarundi, the chief of defence staff, the special operations force commander, and the commander of the 5th Infantry Division, according to the Treasury Department.
Rwanda and Congo signed a peace deal in Washington in December as part of President Donald Trump’s push to broker peace in the region and attract billions of dollars in Western investment.
Just days after the ceremony, however, AFC/M23 rebels entered the eastern Congolese city of Uvira near the Burundian border, marking the conflict’s most significant escalation in months.
They later withdrew under U.S. pressure, though the Treasury Department warned 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 across several fronts in eastern Congo.
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 previously claimed responsibility for an earlier airport attack this month but did not respond to requests for comment on the latest incident.
