Rwandan-backed rebels have seized control of vast parts of eastern Congo and are now threatening to push westward into two neighboring provinces, according to the U.N.'s top official in the conflict-ridden nation.
During a briefing to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, Bintou Keita described the situation in Congo as "alarming," highlighting the M23 rebels' establishment of an administration in South Kivu and the appointment of a "mining delegate" in North Kivu – further evidence of the long-standing link between eastern Congo’s conflicts and the illicit exploitation of its mineral resources.
Keita also drew attention to the harrowing plight of tens of thousands of Congolese fleeing the M23 offensive, alongside widespread human rights abuses, including more than 100 summary executions, rapes and the forced recruitment of children.
Despite regional and international efforts, including a recent agreement between the presidents of Congo and Rwanda in Qatar, Keita said the immediate and unconditional cease-fire they called for has not taken place.
She called for the swift appointment of an African Union mediator to spearhead cease-fire efforts.
Keita told the council that M23 controls large parts of North Kivu and South Kivu "and threatens to expand into Tshopo and Maniema provinces,” which are larger and across the Kivus' western borders. M23 and its allies have vowed to march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the east, and moving into Tshopo and Maniema would be a major first step.
Keita, who heads the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, told reporters that an analysis by professionals on the ground determined that the two provinces could be next.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda. The conflict has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and displaced more than 7 million people.
At the root of the current crisis is the 1994 Rwanda genocide, in which ethnic Hutu extremists killed minority ethnic Tutsis they blamed for the downing of a plane that killed the country’s Hutu president.
Rwanda’s current president, Paul Kagame, a Tutsi and former opposition military commander, is widely credited with stopping the genocide, which killed more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus who tried to protect them. Thousands of Hutus fled Rwanda to neighboring eastern Congo.
The M23 rebels are largely Congolese ethnic Tutsis, whose fighters seized Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city on the border with Rwanda, in November 2012 but pulled back under international pressure.
Last July, U.N. experts reported that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan government forces were operating alongside M23 in eastern Congo. In January, M23 launched a major offensive against Congolese government forces that led to its takeover of most of the Kivus.
At Thursday’s council meeting, Congo’s Ambassador Zénon Mukongo Ngay blamed Rwanda for not adhering to a cease-fire and said his government "remains fully committed and reiterates its trust in any and all peace processes supported by the African Union to bring about a political solution to the conflict.”
He said Rwanda and M23 continue to respond to calls for the withdrawal of all "uninvited” foreign forces from Congo "with violence, with terror." He thanked the countries that have imposed sanctions against Rwanda, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and the European Union.
Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe wouldn’t confirm the presence of Rwandan troops in Congo. But he said the country’s "defensive measures” will remain in place "until there is a credible framework for long-term security guarantees” along the border with Congo.
