More pressure on Rwanda as Congo says rebel uprising has killed over 7,000 people this year

KINSHASA, Congo — More than 7,000 people have died this year as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have captured unprecedented amounts of territory in mineral-rich eastern Congo, Congo’s prime minister said Monday, as the European Union announced it would review an agreement with Rwanda on critical raw materials.

Judith Suminwa Tuluka told the U.N. Human Rights Council that the security and humanitarian situation in the region “has reached alarming levels.”

The conflict has accelerated in recent weeks, with the rebels taking the key city of Goma in January and Bukavu, another provincial capital, this month. M23 is the most potent of the many armed groups vying for a foothold in Congo’s east, which has trillions of dollars of mostly untapped mineral wealth crucial to the world’s technology.

Pressure grew on Rwanda. The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called Congo’s territorial integrity “nonnegotiable” and said EU defense consultations with Rwanda have been suspended — they cooperate on missions in Mozambique and elsewhere — and their memorandum of understanding regarding critical raw materials will be under review.

The EU and Rwanda a year ago signed the memorandum of understanding to “nurture sustainable and resilient value chains for critical raw materials,” noting that Rwanda “produces tin, tungsten, gold and niobium, and has potential for lithium and rare earth elements.”

The EU announcement comes as the government of Congo, far richer in minerals, has accused Rwanda of looting its resources, and after the United States last week urged an “immediate cessation of sourcing of minerals from areas controlled by M23.”

There was no immediate comment from Rwanda on what could be a blow to its economy.

The U.N. has warned that the fighting poses a wider threat to the region, which has seen decades of simmering conflict that has displaced millions.

The M23 has spoken of unseating the government of Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi in distant Kinshasa, which has long had a tenuous grip on the east. The rebels are attempting to gain more ground despite calls for a cease-fire, bolstered by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, a short drive from Goma.

M23 leaders have vowed to “cleanse” cities of alleged bad governance and insecurity. They now threaten the city of Uriva, where gunfire was reported over the weekend.

M23 says it’s fighting to protect ethnic Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination and wants to transform Congo from a failed state to a modern one.

Analysts have called those pretexts for Rwanda’s involvement.

Witnesses in Goma have asserted that the M23’s intelligence branch is searching for former Congolese soldiers and criminals but some people are misidentified. They asserted that 11 young people were killed Sunday while waiting for a weightlifting class in the city after being misidentified as thieves.

Kamale and Mcmakin write for the Associated Press. McMakin reported from Dakar, Senegal.