DR Congo rebel leader says sanctions, US minerals deal won't stop fighting in the east
The head of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), an armed coalition that includes the M23 rebel group, has said that international sanctions and a planned minerals partnership with the United States will not stop the ongoing fighting in the country's east.
Corneille Nangaa, who leads the alliance, told the Associated Press that rebel fighters will not be deterred, even with bounties placed on their leaders by the Congolese government.
"We will fight like people who got nothing to lose in order to secure the future of our country," Nangaa said, dismissing recent remarks by President Félix Tshisekedi, who said that a minerals deal with Washington could bring peace and stability to the region.
Since launching a major offensive in late January, M23 rebels have seized key cities including Goma and Bukavu, as well as the strategic town of Walikale, giving them control over a critical road connecting four provinces in the east; North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo and Maniema.
Former members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo and police officers who allegedly surrendered to M23 rebels arrive in Goma, 23 February, 2025
AP Photo
Thousands of Congolese soldiers have reportedly fled or surrendered, fuelling fears of a wider regional war as neighbouring countries' forces are also present on the ground.
According to the US Department of Commerce, DR Congo's vast mineral wealth, valued at $24 trillion (€22 trillion), remains underdeveloped.
However, the US government has not confirmed the existence of any formal deal.
Nangaa condemned the government's strategy, arguing that the conflict should be addressed internally.
"This problem can be better resolved by the concerned Congolese, not foreigners with different geopolitical agendas," he said.
"Trying to bribe the US with mines can undermine US credibility."
Related
DR Congo says it will engage in peace talks with M23 rebels in Angola
M23 rebels withdraw from DR Congo peace talks as EU imposes sanctions
DR Congo and Rwanda presidents meet in Qatar for peace talks
Peace talks collapse
Peace negotiations facilitated by Angola collapsed last week after the rebels withdrew in protest at European Union sanctions targeting their leadership.
Nangaa also rejected a recent Qatar-held meeting between Congolese and Rwandan officials, saying any talks that exclude the AFC would not lead to lasting peace.
"Anything regarding us which is done without us, it's against us," he stated.
The group has said it would only consider direct dialogue with Kinshasa if its grievances are acknowledged.
While UN experts estimate up to 4,000 Rwandan troops have supported the rebels, Nangaa insists the AFC is an independent alliance committed to tackling "the root cause of more than 30 years of instability in our country."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty uncover human-rights abuses in eastern DRC
11:30 Two separate investigations by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have revealed devastating human rights abuses in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly in areas under the control of the M23 rebels. These include executions and gang rapes of civilians. The M23 rebels have been accused of committing many of these crimes, but the Congolese state forces have also been implicated. The United Nations has described the decades-long conflict in eastern DR Congo as "one of the most protracted, complex and serious humanitarian crises on Earth". Also, residents of the Sudanese capital are trying to rebuild their city after over two years of war left it in ruins. The scale of the destruction is devastating, with authorities estimating nationwide reconstruction costs to be around $700 billion. Khartoum alone accounts for around half of this figure. Despite often lacking water and electricity, residents are determined to rebuild. And the line-up for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) quarter-finals is now complete, and this year there is a historic first among the participants. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are hosting the tournament together, and all three countries have advanced past the group stage to feature in the last eight. The collective progress of the co-hosts has added another exciting dimension to the "unity" theme of this major competition.
France 24
10 hours ago
- France 24
At least 140 killed by Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern DR Congo, rights group says
Rwanda -backed rebels killed at least 140 people in farming communities in eastern Congo in July, a human rights group said in a report Wednesday, describing the killings as 'summary executions". Human Rights Watch said 141 people, predominantly Hutus, were feared dead or missing after the attacks near Virunga National Park in North Kivu province, citing local experts and witness accounts. It said the killings appeared to be part of a military campaign by the M23 group, the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups fighting for control in eastern Congo, against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a mostly Hutu armed group. Nearly 2 million Hutus from Rwanda fled to Congo after the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed 800,000 Tutsi, moderate Hutus and others. Rwandan authorities accused the Hutus who fled of participating in the genocide, alleging that the Congolese army protected them. 'The M23 armed group, which has Rwandan government backing, attacked over a dozen villages and farming areas in July and committed dozens of summary executions of primarily Hutu civilians,' said Clementine de Montjoye, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. Witnesses said M23 soldiers, accompanied by Rwandan soldiers who were identified by their accents, told them to 'immediately bury the bodies in the fields or leave them unburied, preventing families from organising funerals", the report said. One woman described being marched in a group to a riverbank near the town of Kafuru. The group of around 70 people was lined up before the soldiers began shooting at them. Forty-seven people, including children, who were killed were identified, the report added. Willy Ngoma, military spokesperson for M23, called the report 'military propaganda". The report said the Rwandan military and the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) were involved in the M23 operations, citing UN and military sources and witness accounts. There was no immediate comment from the Rwandan government. The reported killings could escalate tensions in Congo's mineral-rich east where different partners have been racing to achieve a permanent ceasefire since fighting between the M23 and Congolese forces escalated in January. M23 deported over 1,500 people from eastern DRC to Rwanda, HRW says 13:12 The U.N. has called the conflict 'one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth". M23 was previously accused of extrajudicial killings during their seizure of major cities in the eastern part of the country in May.
France 24
17 hours ago
- France 24
Israel defence minister approves plan to conquer Gaza City
Defence Minister Israel Katz's move, confirmed to AFP by a spokesperson, piled pressure on Hamas as mediators pushing for a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war in Gaza awaited an official Israeli response on their latest proposal. While mediator Qatar had expressed guarded optimism over the latest proposal, a senior Israeli official said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any agreement. The framework that Hamas had approved proposes an initial 60-day truce, a staggered hostage release, the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners and provisions allowing for the entry of aid into Gaza. Israel and Hamas have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war, resulting in two short truces during which Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The latest truce proposal came after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to conquer Gaza City, despite fears it will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have mediated the frequent rounds of shuttle diplomacy. Qatar said the latest proposal was "almost identical" to an earlier version agreed by Israel, while Egypt said Monday that "the ball is now in its (Israel's) court". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly comment on the plan, but said last week that his country would accept "an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war". Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said on social media that his group had "opened the door wide to the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the question remains whether Netanyahu will once again close it, as he has done in the past". 'White gold' The latest truce proposal came as Netanyahu faces increasing pressure at home and abroad. In Gaza, the civil defence agency reported Israeli strikes and fire killed 48 people across the territory on Tuesday. Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City, where he said "shelling continues intermittently". The Israeli military declined to comment on specific troop movements, saying only that it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" and took "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm". The military later said a strike in Khan Yunis overnight targeted a Hamas militant. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military. In the Zikim area of northern Gaza on Tuesday, an AFP journalist saw Palestinians hauling sacks of food aid along dusty roads lined with rubble and damaged buildings. Gazan Shawg Al-Badri said it took "three to four hours" to carry flour, what she called "white gold", back to her family's tent. "This bag is worth the whole world," she said. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed at least 62,064 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable. © 2025 AFP
