The United Nations Security Council has imposed sanctions on leaders of armed groups ​operating in eastern Congo including Rwandan-backed AFC/M23 ‌rebels and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which fights alongside the Congolese army.

The conflict ​in eastern Congo is rooted in the ​fallout from neighbouring Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

Fighting in ⁠eastern Congo intensified last year when the ​AFC/M23 rebel group, which the United Nations and ​Western governments say is backed by Rwanda, seized large swathes of eastern Congo.

Rwanda denies backing the rebels.

The UN Security ​Council said on Thursday a committee that ​oversees an arms embargo on Democratic Republic of the ‌Congo ⁠added six individuals and two entities to its sanctions list.

Among them were Corneille Nangaa, leader of the AFC rebel alliance that also includes M23, ​John Imani ​Nzenze, M23 ⁠chief of intelligence, and Gustave Kubwayo, an FDLR commander.

Nzenze and Kubwayo ​were sanctioned last month by the United States ​which ⁠accused them of driving the conflict in the east despite mediation efforts by Washington.

UN sanctions include ⁠an ​arms embargo, a travel ban ​and an assets freeze.


-Reuters