About 4,000 Rwandan troops are fighting alongside M23 rebels in eastern Congo, where the rebels now control the capitals of the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, according to a report by U.N. experts.
The United Kingdom also will stop “high-level attendance at events hosted by” Rwanda’s government, in addition to limiting trade promotion activities with the east African country, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement.
The measures will pile pressure on Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who previously has been defiant over his country’s efforts to secure its border with a largely lawless part of eastern Congo.
U.K. authorities said Tuesday that they were punishing Rwanda over its alleged support of the rebels who now control two major cities in eastern Congo.
Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi has ruled out peace talks with M23 rebels even as they acquire more territory, accusing them of being a proxy army for Rwanda in a plot to illegally exploit the region’s vast mineral wealth.
