As part of his three-nation visit to Africa, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kinshasa on Tuesday.
According to the U.S. Department of State, he will meet with government officials and representatives of civil society during his two days in Congo to discuss cooperation for regional security, issues relating to human rights, environmental preservation, combating climate change, and bilateral trade and investment.
With the M23 rebel group’s rebirth and continuous violence by the numerous militia groups competing for control of the mineral-rich region, attacks in eastern Congo have substantially intensified over the past month. Blinken is anticipated to promote solutions to the conflict there.
Deathly demonstrations against the United Nations peacekeeping troops there have been provoked by the rising instability in eastern Congo. Despite a year of emergency operations by the militaries of Congo and Uganda, the security situation in eastern Congo has gotten worse.
The Islamic State group-affiliated jihadi rebels have also attacked civilians in the east. Fighting between Congolese army and the M23 rebels recently resulted in the displacement of more than 200,000 people.
Later on Wednesday, Blinken will fly to Rwanda, which has rejected a report by U.N experts claiming to have “strong proof” that members of Rwanda’s military forces are undertaking operations in eastern Congo to support the M23 rebel organisation. Rwanda is denying the UN experts’ claims.
Rwanda asserts that until the Congolese government addresses its alleged collaboration with the FDLR, another rebel organization, regional security cannot be attained.
When ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred in Rwanda in 1994, at least 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus fled the nation and founded the FDLR. Congo has denied aiding the organization.
For many years, tensions have existed between the Congo and its smaller neighbor Rwanda. Rwanda claims that Hutus who committed the genocide were given refuge in Congo.
Late in the 1990s, Rwanda twice sent troops into the heart of the Congo, teaming up with rebel leader Laurent Kabila to overthrow longstanding ruler Mobutu Sese Seko.
A joint statement issued on July 6 in Angola by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame called for an end to hostilities, normal diplomatic relations, and the “prompt and unconditional withdrawal” of the M23 from its strongholds in eastern Congo.