US imposes sanctions on Rwanda military over east Congo fighting

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on the Rwanda Defence Force and top military officials over their role in ongoing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and called for their immediate withdrawal from the mineral-rich region.

Rwanda has long rejected allegations from Congo, the United Nations and Western powers that it supports the AFC/M23 rebel group, which staged a lightning offensive last year and now holds more territory in eastern DRC than ever before.

But the U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday that the rebels' gains would have been impossible without Rwandan backing. The State Department said separately that Rwanda's support had enabled "horrific human rights abuses."

In an emailed statement to Reuters, Rwanda's government said the sanctions unjustly targeted only one party to the peace process and "misrepresent the reality and distort the facts of the conflict."

The statement said Kigali was "fully committed to disengagement of its forces in tandem with the DRC implementing their obligations" under U.S.-led mediation, but accused Congo of failing to keep promises such as ending support for militias.

A spokesperson for AFC/M23 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The sanctioned Rwandan officials include army chief of staff Vincent Nyakarundi, as well as the chief of defense staff, the special operations force commander and the commander of the 5th Infantry Division, according to the Treasury Department.

MEDIATION EFFORTS FAIL TO STOP FIGHTING

Rwanda and Congo signed a peace deal in Washington in December as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's push to broker peace in the region and attract billions of dollars in Western investment.

Just days after that ceremony, however, AFC/M23 rebels entered the eastern Congo city of Uvira, near the Burundian border, in the war's biggest escalation for months.

They later pulled out under U.S. pressure, though the Treasury Department said on Monday that the rebels' continued presence near Burundi's border "carries the risk of escalating the conflict into a broader regional war."

Fighting continues in eastern Congo on several fronts.

Over the weekend Congolese officials accused AFC/M23 of launching a drone attack on the airport in the strategic city of Kisangani, hundreds of kilometres from any active front lines.

AFC/M23 claimed responsibility for an attack on the airport earlier this month, but did not respond to requests for comment on Monday about the latest attack.