The UN Security Council has condemned the advances of the M23 rebels in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the armed group supported by Rwanda has taken control of several strategic localities since the beginning of the year and is now threatening to seize Goma, the capital of the province of North Kivu.
BINTOU Keïta, the special representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of Congo during her speech by videoconference to the UN Security Council. Kinshasa, March 29, 2022. Radio Okapi. Ph/Jonathan Fuanani
“These advances constitute a serious violation of the ceasefire, aggravate the serious humanitarian and displacement crisis in eastern DRC and undermine efforts to achieve a lasting peaceful and political solution to the conflict,” the UN Security Council deplored on Sunday, January 27, after meeting urgently on the situation in the DRC.
The Council noted the expansion of the Kigali-backed rebel group in North Kivu province, Kivu, where rebels took control of the localities of Masisi on 4 January 2025 and Sake on 23 January 2025. Council members also expressed concern about the imminent threat now facing Goma, the provincial capital, putting hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk.
Fighting between the armed forces of the Kinshasa government and rebels is intensifying in and around the city of Goma.
The members of the Security Council also condemned the “flagrant disregard” for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC. They demanded that these foreign forces withdraw immediately and that the M23 put an end to the establishment of parallel administrations on the territory of the DRC.
The Council urged Rwanda and the DRC to resume diplomatic talks to achieve a lasting and peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Kinshasa demands 5 concrete actions from the Security Council
Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner at the United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation concerning her country, 01/26/2025. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Congo demanded, on Sunday, the immediate withdrawal of Rwandan troops present on Congolese territory, during her speech in New York, at the meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the situation concerning her country, reports the Congolese Press Agency.
The Security Council must, according to the head of Congolese diplomacy, impose targeted sanctions, including the freezing of assets, as well as a travel ban not only against the identified members of the chain of command of the Rwandan Armed Forces, but also the political decision-makers responsible for this aggression, added the agency.
The head of diplomacy of the DRC cited the 5 concrete actions that Kinshasa demands from the UN:
The cessation of hostilities by Rwanda and demand the immediate withdrawal of Rwandan troops present on Congolese territory,
Impose targeted sanctions,
Impose a total embargo on exports of all minerals labeled as Rwandan,
Immediately revoke Rwanda’s status as a troop contributor to United Nations peacekeeping missions and
Establish a systematic notification regime for all sales and transfers of arms to Rwanda by Member States or private entities.
To end the security crisis in the East of the DRC and resolve the ongoing conflict between Kinshasa and Kigali, the United Nations is calling for the resumption of negotiations, led by Joao Lourenço, President of Angola, within the framework of the Luanda Process.
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