A state minister at the German Foreign Office has urged Rwanda to pull its troops from the restive eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and end support for M23 rebels, which Rwanda denies backing.
"Humanitarian situation in the wake of the conflict in Eastern DRC is alarming, and deteriorating steadily. Rwanda should withdraw its troops from DRC and cease support to M23 to build trust towards a political solution," Katja Keul said on social media on Thursday, a day after calling the Rwandan foreign minister.
The DRC government accuses its neighbor of supporting M23 rebels in the two-year conflict that has ravaged the eastern North Kivu province.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA says the armed group, which claims to be acting in the interest of the ethnic Tutsi minority, has been attacking border villages, forcing thousands to flee.
At least 18 people died and dozens others were injured in a rocket attack on North Kivu’s main city of Goma on May 3. The provincial authorities accused M23 insurgents of launching at least five rockets at four camps housing displaced refugees, many of them women and children.
M23 disbanded in 2013 following its defeat by the UN-backed Congolese army but resumed attacks in the DRC in 2021 after accusing the country’s authorities of failing to live up to their commitment to integrate Tutsis in the government and the army.