Heatwaves and hand-to-hand combat: Africa's top shots
Big shake-up in Nigerian politics as heavyweights join forces
Queen of Katwe's gambit still in play for Uganda's slum chess players
DR Congo-Rwanda peace deal met with scepticism in rebel-held city
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The Hill
4 hours ago
- The Hill
UN experts say Rwanda supported rebels in Congo and smuggled minerals at ‘unprecedented levels'
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Rwanda provided 'critical' support to the M23 rebels' recent offensive in eastern Congo, which helped secure Kigali's access to minerals and fertile ground, according to a confidential United Nations report seen by The Associated Press. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group is the most prominent armed group in the conflict in Eastern Congo, which has been in and out of crises for decades. The rebels earlier this year advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma and Bukavu in a major escalation of the conflict. Rwanda has denied any involvement. But U.N. experts say Kigali provided backing to the rebels with an aim to 'control the territory of the DRC and its natural resources,' using 'advanced military equipment, including jamming systems, short-range air defense system and armed drones.' Rwanda has been accused of exploiting eastern Congo's minerals, used in smartphones, advanced fighter jets and much more, which Kigali denies. The report said that smuggling of coltan, considered a critical mineral, from M23-controlled territories in recent months reached 'unprecedented levels.' 'Evidence indicated increasing risk of cross-border fraud as minerals from North Kivu, particularly coltan from the AFC-controlled Rubaya mine, continued to be smuggled to Rwanda.' the report said. 'These minerals were then mixed with production of Rwandan origin and exported downstream.' AFC, or Congo River Alliance, is an umbrella groups which includes M23. The M23-controlled Rubaya mines produce coltan — short for columbite-tantalite — an ore from which the metals tantalum and niobium are extracted. Both are considered critical raw materials by the United States, the European Union, China and Japan. Tantalum is used in mobile phones, computers and automotive electronics, as well as in aircraft engines, missile components and GPS systems. Niobium is used in pipelines, rockets and jet engines. Congo produced about 40% of the world's coltan in 2023, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, with Australia, Canada and Brazil being other major suppliers. Part of the minerals smuggled to Rwanda were purchased by Boss Mining Solution Limited, a Rwandan company. To justify the plausibility of domestic origins of tantalum, tin and tungsten, the Rwandan Development Board declared annual domestic production of 8,000 to 9,000 tons of these minerals, the report said. The figure was contradicted by the National Institute of Statistics, independent geological studies and ITSCI. Late last month, Rwanda and Congo signed a peace deal facilitated by the U.S. while helping the U.S. government and American companies gain access to critical minerals in the region. But experts said they don't believe it will quickly end the fighting because the most prominent armed group says it does not apply to it. Rwanda denied the allegations from the U.N. report. Alluding to the U.N. report, Rwanda's president Paul Kagame told reporters on Friday:'The expertise they provide, the reports they write actually do not have anything to do with the situation itself. These reports were written long ago — long ago when they were given the mission.' A spokesperson for Rwanda's government, Yolande Makolo, wrote on X that 'Following the signing of the US-brokered Peace Agreement last Friday, Rwanda is fully committed to its implementation.' The report, which was first reported by Reuters, was submitted to the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee for Congo earlier this week, and will be published shortly, said a U.N. official who was not authorized to speak on the matter publicly. Despite Congo's exceptional mineral wealth, over 70% of Congolese live on less than $2.15 a day. The conflict in the country's east has created one of the world's largest humanitarian crises with more than 7 million people displaced, including 100,000 who fled homes this year. The U.N. report also accused all sides in the conflict of human rights violations, including reprisal killings on suspicion of collaboration of the opposing sides. Rwanda and M23 are responsible for 'systematic campaign of repression in occupied areas, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest, torture, enforced disappearance and raids in hospitals,' it said. Retreating Congolese soldiers and members of the pro-government militia 'committed looting, sexual violence and killings.' ___ Associated Press writers Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal and Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda, contributed to this report.
Business Insider
4 hours ago
- Business Insider
Rwandan president, Kagame, warns of more fighting if Congo tries to play any ‘tricks'
Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, has revealed that he is willing to hold up his country's end of the recent peace deal signed with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, he noted that his compliance is dependent on Congo's move. Rwanda's President Kagame expressed commitment to honoring the peace agreement with the DRC if the latter fulfills its obligations. The U.S. mediated the peace deal, aiming to address the prolonged conflict in eastern DRC and improve regional stability. The agreement includes clauses on respecting territorial integrity, prohibiting hostilities, and ensuring refugee returns. The president of Rwanda recently disclosed that he is not going to stand for any tricks from the Democratic Republic of Congo, regarding the recent peace deal between both countries, brokered by the United States. To resolve the protracted conflict in the eastern part of the DRC that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and strained regional relations, the United States, last week, mediated a peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Washington. Together with representatives from the US and Qatar, the two nations' foreign ministers signed the agreement on Friday. A prior statement mentioned "provisions on respect for territorial integrity and a prohibition of hostilities," as well as the facilitation of the return of refugees and internally displaced individuals, although the agreement's complete contents have not been made public. Commenting on the deal, as reported by Reuters, Kagame, in Kigali, assured reporters that Rwanda was dedicated to implementing the agreement, but that it would fall through if Congo failed to fulfill its commitments to neutralize the FDLR. "If the side that we are working with plays tricks and takes us back to the problem, then we deal with the problem like we have been dealing with it," Kagame said. He went on to applaud the U.S. and the efforts of its president, Donald Trump in bringing peace between both states, noting that if things fell apart, the U.S. is not to be blamed. America's involvement in the Rwanda-Congo conflict Several weeks ago, the United States announced a huge mining transaction in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of a larger attempt to secure a peace agreement between the DRC and neighboring Rwanda. This action underscored Washington's growing political and economic commitment in a region long marred by strife, notably in the eastern provinces, where vast mineral riches has historically fueled bloodshed and foreign meddling. The planned pact, which would grant US and allied corporations access to Congo's huge quantities of key minerals such as cobalt, coltan, lithium, and gold, is being framed not only as an economic transaction, but also as a calculated geopolitical instrument. Late last month President Donald Trump announced a landmark peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Rwanda, aimed at ending one of Africa's longest-running and most violent conflicts.
San Francisco Chronicle
5 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
UN experts say Rwanda supported rebels in Congo and smuggled minerals at ‘unprecedented levels'
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Rwanda provided 'critical' support to the M23 rebels' recent offensive in eastern Congo, which helped secure Kigali's access to minerals and fertile ground, according to a confidential United Nations report seen by The Associated Press. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group is the most prominent armed group in the conflict in Eastern Congo, which has been in and out of crises for decades. The rebels earlier this year advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma and Bukavu in a major escalation of the conflict. Rwanda has denied any involvement. But U.N. experts say Kigali provided backing to the rebels with an aim to 'control the territory of the DRC and its natural resources," using 'advanced military equipment, including jamming systems, short-range air defense system and armed drones.' Rwanda has been accused of exploiting eastern Congo's minerals, used in smartphones, advanced fighter jets and much more, which Kigali denies. The report said that smuggling of coltan, considered a critical mineral, from M23-controlled territories in recent months reached 'unprecedented levels." 'Evidence indicated increasing risk of cross-border fraud as minerals from North Kivu, particularly coltan from the AFC-controlled Rubaya mine, continued to be smuggled to Rwanda.' the report said. 'These minerals were then mixed with production of Rwandan origin and exported downstream.' AFC, or Congo River Alliance, is an umbrella groups which includes M23. The M23-controlled Rubaya mines produce coltan — short for columbite-tantalite — an ore from which the metals tantalum and niobium are extracted. Both are considered critical raw materials by the United States, the European Union, China and Japan. Tantalum is used in mobile phones, computers and automotive electronics, as well as in aircraft engines, missile components and GPS systems. Niobium is used in pipelines, rockets and jet engines. Congo produced about 40% of the world's coltan in 2023, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, with Australia, Canada and Brazil being other major suppliers. Part of the minerals smuggled to Rwanda were purchased by Boss Mining Solution Limited, a Rwandan company. To justify the plausibility of domestic origins of tantalum, tin and tungsten, the Rwandan Development Board declared annual domestic production of 8,000 to 9,000 tons of these minerals, the report said. The figure was contradicted by the National Institute of Statistics, independent geological studies and ITSCI. Late last month, Rwanda and Congo signed a peace deal facilitated by the U.S. while helping the U.S. government and American companies gain access to critical minerals in the region. But experts said they don't believe it will quickly end the fighting because the most prominent armed group says it does not apply to it. Rwanda denied the allegations from the U.N. report. Alluding to the U.N. report, Rwanda's president Paul Kagame told reporters on Friday:'The expertise they provide, the reports they write actually do not have anything to do with the situation itself. These reports were written long ago — long ago when they were given the mission.' A spokesperson for Rwanda's government, Yolande Makolo, wrote on X that 'Following the signing of the US-brokered Peace Agreement last Friday, Rwanda is fully committed to its implementation.' The report, which was first reported by Reuters, was submitted to the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee for Congo earlier this week, and will be published shortly, said a U.N. official who was not authorized to speak on the matter publicly. Despite Congo's exceptional mineral wealth, over 70% of Congolese live on less than $2.15 a day. The conflict in the country's east has created one of the world's largest humanitarian crises with more than 7 million people displaced, including 100,000 who fled homes this year. The U.N. report also accused all sides in the conflict of human rights violations, including reprisal killings on suspicion of collaboration of the opposing sides. Rwanda and M23 are responsible for 'systematic campaign of repression in occupied areas, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest, torture, enforced disappearance and raids in hospitals," it said. Retreating Congolese soldiers and members of the pro-government militia 'committed looting, sexual violence and killings.' ___
