In his address to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Lacroix noted that the new offensive launched by the Congo River Alliance-March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) in South Kivu province “has rekindled the specter of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences.”

Radio Okapi station announced that the UN peacekeeping chief warned that recent events pose a serious risk of fragmentation in the DRC, especially in the country’s eastern provinces, where rebels have also established parallel administrations.

Another negative aspect, he pointed out, is the direct or indirect participation of armed forces and groups from neighboring countries, which increases the danger of the confrontations spreading and potentially affecting the entire Great Lakes Region.

Despite the agreements signed in Washington, D.C., between the presidents of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, and Rwanda, Paul Kagame, the United States has been supporting the AFC/M23 offensive in eastern Congo, which led to the capture on December 10 of the city of Uvira, the provisional capital of South Kivu, and a city near the border with Burundi.

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