{"id":21,"date":"2026-01-21T11:34:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/?p=21"},"modified":"2026-01-21T11:34:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:34:26","slug":"us-accuses-rwanda-of-fueling-war-as-fighting-in-eastern-dr-congo-intensifies-despite-trump-brokered-peace-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/?p=21","title":{"rendered":"US accuses Rwanda of fueling war as fighting in eastern DR Congo intensifies despite Trump-brokered peace deal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

M23 rebels stand guard at the the Unite stadium, where captured members of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Wazalendo troops wait to be taken aboard trucks for training by M23 rebels, in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 10. Arlette Bashizi\/Reuters\/FileReuters \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States accused Rwanda on Friday of fueling instability and war as a Rwanda-backed advance of the M23 rebel <\/a>group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo threatens to derail US President Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to broker peace<\/a> in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRwanda is leading the region towards increased instability and war,\u201d US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz<\/a> told the UN Security Council. \u201cWe will use the tools at our disposal to hold to account spoilers to peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rebels\u2019 gains bring the conflict to the doorstep of neighboring Burundi, which has had troops in eastern Congo for years, aggravating fears of further regional spillover of fighting that has already killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands more since January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Restraint has its limits\u2019: Burundi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet me be clear: restraint has its limits. Should these irresponsible attacks continue, it would become extremely difficult to avoid a direct escalation between our two countries,\u201d Burundi\u2019s UN Ambassador Zephyrin Maniratanga told the Security Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rwanda\u2019s UN Ambassador Martin Ngoga accused Burundi of an attack on Rwandan territory and said: \u201cRwanda is not waging war against the Republic of Burundi and has no intention of doing that.\u201d He accused DRC of violating the ceasefire and said Rwanda was fully committed to implementing its part of the Washington peace deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congo\u2019s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner called on the Security Council to hold Rwanda accountable. \u201cWe have reached a moment of truth – either the international order accepts being openly defied, namely by Rwanda, or this council assumes its responsibility. Impunity has gone on for far too long,\u201d she told the council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advance follows leaders meeting with Trump<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

M23 says it is fighting to protect ethnic Tutsi communities in eastern Congo. The latest M23 advance in mineral-rich eastern Congo comes a week after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame<\/a> met Trump in Washington and affirmed their commitment to a US-brokered peace deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe call on Rwanda to uphold its commitments and to further recognize the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo\u2019s right to defend its territory and its sovereign right to invite Burundian forces onto its territory,\u201d Waltz told the 15-member council. \u201cWe are engaging with all sides to urge restraint and to avoid further escalation, including refraining from hostile anti-Tutsi rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Related article<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"TOPSHOT<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fighting in Africa\u2019s mineral-rich DRC killed over 3,000 in less than 2 weeks. Here\u2019s how your phone plays a part<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 min read<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe United States is profoundly concerned and incredibly disappointed with the renewed outbreak of violence in the eastern DRC,\u201d Waltz said. He told the Security Council that Rwanda has had strategic control of M23 and what he referred to as the rebel group\u2019s political wing \u2013 the Congo River Alliance, or AFC \u2013 since it re-emerged in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKigali has been intimately involved in planning and executing the war in eastern DRC, providing military and political direction to M23 forces and AFC for years now,\u201d Waltz said. \u201cThe Rwandan defense forces have provided materiel, logistics and training support to M23, as well as fighting alongside M23 in DRC with roughly 5,000 to 7,000 troops as early December.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rwanda denies backing M23 <\/a>and has blamed Congolese and Burundian forces for the renewed fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M23 is not party to the Washington-mediated negotiations. It has been participating in a separate, parallel round of talks with the Congolese government, hosted by Qatar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

M23 rebels stand guard at the the Unite stadium, where captured members of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Wazalendo troops wait to be taken aboard trucks for training by M23 rebels, in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 10. Arlette Bashizi\/Reuters\/FileReuters \u2014  The United States accused Rwanda on Friday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions\/23"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}