Muhamad Yehia
The United Nations Security Council met for the second time in three days on Tuesday to discuss the escalating crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
UN agencies on the ground are reporting chaotic scenes in the streets of the regional capital, Goma, amid rising death and displacement.
On Monday, the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels claimed to have seized the city although it is still unclear how much of it they control.
At the Security Council, the DRC’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, said Rwanda could not be “allowed to continue to act with impunity.”
“Millions have been displaced. Thousands are trapped in the besieged city of Goma with restricted access to food, water, electricity, security. Countless lives have been lost,” she said.
Saying “enough is enough”, she demanded action from the Council.
”We demand five immediate actions, very actionable and very precise. Firstly, the unconditional withdrawal of random troops from sovereign Congolese territory. There is no path to sustainable, peaceful resolution without this crucial step,” she said.
Wagner also called for sanctions against the Rwandan Defence Force and the “suspension of Rwanda as a contributor of troops to UN peacekeeping missions”.
She said Kinshasa also wants to see the introduction of an embargo “on Rwanda’s illicit exploitation and exportation of mineral resources in the DRC will stem the financing of this aggression”.
Several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and France have condemned Rwanda for the rebel advance.
Thousands of people have been fleeing Goma since the M23 rebels first entered the city on Sunday.
UN officials have reported violence, looting, and bodies in the streets, and that hospitals are overwhelmed.
Goma is a regional trade and humanitarian hub.
As the conflict escalates, the United States urged the Council to consider measures to halt the offensive.
DRC President Félix Tshisekedi said he would not be attending an emergency summit of the Community of East African States, to be held in the Kenya capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday.
The M23 rebels are one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in the conflict-battered North Kivu province — which includes Goma — rich in minerals critical to much of the world’s technology.