By Staff Writer
NAIROBI, Kenya — A confidential United Nations report has accused Rwanda of assuming direct command and control over the M23 rebel group in eastern Congo, an allegation that, if verified, could escalate tensions in one of Africa’s most volatile regions and complicate Washington-brokered peace efforts.
The report, prepared by a U.N. panel of independent experts and circulated among Security Council members this week obtained by Reuters, asserts that Rwanda deployed as many as 6,000 troops across the Congolese border, supplied M23 with advanced weaponry — including surface-to-air missile systems — and provided training and strategic guidance for military operations against Congolese government forces.
These operations, the experts conclude, are not primarily aimed at neutralizing the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan Hutu rebel group Kigali has long cited as a threat, but rather at expanding M23’s territorial and political influence in eastern Congo’s resource-rich provinces.
“The level of coordination observed amounts to effective command and control,” the report states, contradicting repeated denials from Rwanda’s government, which has described its involvement in Congo as limited to border security and defensive actions against FDLR elements.
Rwanda’s mission to the United Nations dismissed the report as “deeply flawed” and “politically motivated,” accusing the expert panel of ignoring Kigali’s legitimate security concerns.
“Rwanda has no interest in destabilizing the region,” a Rwandan spokesperson said, emphasizing the government’s commitment to recent peace agreements.
The report details the supply of armored vehicles, drone systems, and the training of M23 units in advanced infantry tactics.
It also attributes to Rwandan forces a surface-to-air missile strike in May that damaged a United Nations helicopter and injured peacekeepers stationed near Goma.
The findings come less than a week after Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a peace deal in Washington, pledging to de-escalate tensions and withdraw foreign troops within 90 days.
But diplomats and analysts now fear the accord could unravel before implementation begins.
“This is a textbook case of parallel diplomacy and covert operations working at cross-purposes,” said a senior Western diplomat familiar with the negotiations.
“Publicly, you have handshake agreements. Privately, you have missiles in the sky.”
Eastern Congo has long been plagued by shifting alliances and armed groups vying for control over gold, coltan, and other valuable minerals. M23’s resurgence in 2022 reignited concerns of a broader proxy conflict, with Rwanda and Congo trading accusations of supporting rival militias.
The United Nations imposed an arms embargo on Congo’s armed groups and foreign military actors in the region, a measure the experts say Rwanda has systematically violated.
The Security Council is expected to meet behind closed doors next week to discuss the report’s implications, though diplomats say any formal condemnation of Rwanda could be blocked by its allies on the Council.
For civilians trapped between front lines, the geopolitical calculations offer little comfort. Aid agencies report that more than 300,000 people have been displaced since renewed fighting erupted in early 2025, adding to an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Whether Rwanda’s government will face real international consequences remains uncertain. But as one Congolese official put it, “You cannot stabilize the region while ignoring the hand pulling the strings.”
© All East Africa and Reuters
