Rwanda-Backed Rebels Seek Autonomous Congo Zone, UN Experts Say

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are creating an autonomously governed region in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo despite ongoing efforts by the US and Qatar to get the group to withdraw, United Nations experts said.

In an interim report on the deteriorating security situation published late Tuesday, the UN experts said the M23 is seizing strategic mines and setting up a parallel government in Congo’s North and South Kivu provinces.