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The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday against commanders of armed groups it accuses of driving the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Despite mediation efforts by Washington, clashes continue in the region between the M23 rebels—whom the United Nations says Rwanda backs—and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu militia rooted in the 1994 genocide.
Rwanda denies backing the M23 rebels.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced that the sanctions target M23 commander and intelligence chief John Imani Nzenze, alongside Gustave Kubwayo, an FDLR commander who leads an intelligence and special operations unit.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that President Trump has demanded an urgent resolution to the horrific conflict, emphasising that persistent violence by armed groups exacerbates a dire humanitarian crisis and threatens U.S. interests.
He added that the sanctions support a peaceful resolution and an end to the bloodshed.
Nzenze, the Congolese government, and a spokesperson for the Rwandan government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Rwanda and Congo previously signed a peace deal in Washington in December as part of President Donald Trump’s push to broker peace and attract billions of dollars in Western investment.
However, days after the ceremony, M23 rebels entered the eastern Congolese city near the Burundian border, marking the war’s biggest escalation in months before they finally withdrew under U.S. pressure.
