Members of the M23 rebel group mount their vehicles after the opening ceremony of Caisse Generale d’epargne du Congo in Goma, North Kivu province in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, April 7, 2025
July 2 – Rwanda has exercised command and control over M23 rebels during their advance in eastern Congo, gaining political influence and access to mineral-rich territory, according to a confidential report by a group of United Nations experts.
The report details training which the experts say Rwanda has provided to M23 recruits and military equipment they say Rwanda has deployed – notably “high-tech systems capable of neutralizing air assets” – to give the rebels “a decisive tactical advantage” over Congo’s beleaguered army.
The report was submitted to the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee for Congo in early May and is due to be published shortly, said diplomats.
M23 has advanced in eastern Congo, seizing the region’s two largest cities, Goma and Bukavu, in January and February. Congo, the United Nations and Western powers say Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms.
Rwanda has long denied helping M23 and says its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo’s army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
The report by the U.N. experts said Rwanda’s military support for M23 was not “primarily” aimed at addressing threats posed by the FDLR, asserting that Kigali was instead focused on “conquering additional territories”.
Yolande Makolo, Rwanda government spokesperson, told Journalists on Wednesday the report “misrepresents Rwanda’s longstanding security concerns related to the persistent threat of the FDLR and its affiliated groups, which necessitates the defence posture in our border areas.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is trying to broker a peace deal between Rwanda and Congo that would bring billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals.
On Friday the Rwandan and Congolese foreign ministers signed a peace deal in Washington and met with Trump, who warned of “very severe penalties, financial and otherwise” if the deal is violated. Qatar is hosting a parallel mediation effort with delegations from the Congolese government and M23.
Makolo said Rwanda was committed to implementing the deal signed in Washington, including neutralising the FDLR “which will enable the lifting of Rwanda’s defensive measures.”
The U.N. report said Rwanda has hosted leaders of a rebel coalition that includes M23 at its Gabiro Training Centre and also used military centres in Nasho and Gako to train M23 recruits.
Rwanda also “drastically increased” the number of Rwandan troops in eastern Congo ahead of M23’s advance, according to the experts, who offered “a conservative estimate of 6,000” Rwandan troops active in Congo’s North and South Kivu provinces.
The U.N. experts also accused Rwanda of “flagrant and systematic violations” of an arms embargo, and said a likely missile attack in January on an armoured personnel carrier carrying U.N. peacekeepers – killing one and injuring four others – appeared to have been fired from a Rwandan military position.
An estimated 1,000 to 1,500 Rwandan troops were still active in M23-held territory when the report was drafted, and “several thousand” remained along the border ready to deploy, said the report, which covers investigations conducted up to April 20.
