Tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have escalated, heightening the risk of a military confrontation that could draw in Burundi, the top UN official in the DRC warned the Security Council on Monday.
Special Representative Bintou Keita’s warning came shortly before the ambassadors from Congo and Rwanda traded accusations in the council, and nine days ahead of the DRC’s December 20 presidential election, in which President Felix Tshisekedi is seeking a second term against two dozen candidates.
As voting nears, the DRC’s government is also doubling down on a push to have regional and international peacekeeping forces withdraw, including the UN’s more than 17,700-member force. A regional force of officers from East African countries began leaving eastern DRC’s largest city, Goma, last week.
Tshisekedi has long accused Rwanda and its president, Paul Kagame, of providing military support to M23 rebels, the latest iteration of Congolese Tutsi fighters to seize towns in parts of mineral-rich North Kivu. The UN and human rights groups accuse M23 of atrocities including rape and mass killings and say it receives backing from Rwanda—but Rwanda denies any ties with the rebels.
Keita told the council that the eastern provinces are facing escalating insecurity, “especially related to the renewed M23 crisis.”
She stressed that insecurity “has compounded the ongoing humanitarian crisis." According to the UN humanitarian office, over 6.5 million people are displaced in the DRC, 5.5 million of them in the three eastern provinces.
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