UN experts: Between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan troops are in Congo operating with the M23 rebel group

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwanda government forces are deployed in neighboring eastern Congo, operating alongside the M23 rebel group which has been making major advances, U.N. experts said in a report circulated Wednesday.

The experts called the estimate of Rwandan troops “conservative” and said their “systematic support and presence” supporting M23 in its territorial conquest is a sanctionable act, and their deployment is a violation of Congo’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Rwandan forces’ “de facto control and direction over M23 operations also renders Rwanda liable for the actions of M23,” the panel of experts said in the The 293-page report to the U.N. Security Council.

Eastern Congo has struggled with armed violence as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings.

Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi, along with U.S. and U.N. experts, have accused Rwanda of giving military backing to M23. Rwanda denies the claim, but in February it effectively admitted that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border.

At the root of the current crisis is the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The carnage began when a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana was shot down, killing the leader, who like most Rwandans was an ethnic Hutu. The country’s minority Tutsis were blamed, and bands of Hutu extremists began killing them with support from Rwanda’s army, police and militias.

Rwanda’s current president, Paul Kagame, a Tutsi and former opposition military commander, is widely credited with stopping the genocide which killed more...