MBABANE:The United Nations Security Council on Sunday demanded that M23 rebel forces stop an ongoing offensive and advance towards Goma, the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC),and that “external forces” in the region immediately withdraw, Reuters reported.
“The Council demands came just hours after Rwandan-backed M23 said they had taken Goma following a lightning advance that has forced thousands of people to flee and fuelled concerns of a regional war”, reads the Reuters report in part.
Paul Kagame,the President of Rwanda long denied supporting the M23 Rebels in the eastern DRC.
But according to Reuters, the 15-member UN Security Council met earlier on Sunday to discuss the crisis and then quickly agreed on a lengthy statement.
The Council urged Rwanda and the DRC to return to talks to achieve peace and address issues related to the presence of Rwanda Defence Forces in the eastern Congo and Congolese support for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
“M23 vows to defend Tutsi interests, particularly against ethnic Hutu militias such as the FDLR, which was founded by Hutus who fled Rwanda after participating in the 1994 genocide of more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus,”reads the Reuters report.
It has been reported that,the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of Africa’s most richly endowed countries in terms of mineral wealth.
DRC hosts numerous major deposits of diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, tin, tantalum and lithium. Mining is of high significance for the country’s economic development in terms of poverty reduction, employment opportunities, GDP contribution, state revenue generation and export earnings.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame(pic: internet).