Congo's president accuses former leader of backing a US-sanctioned rebel coalition

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DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi accused former leader Joseph Kabila of backing a U.S.-sanctioned coalition of rebel groups during an interview with a private radio station on Tuesday.

“Joseph Kabila boycotted the election and is preparing an insurrection because he is the AFC,” Tshisekedi said, referring to the Alliance Fleuve Congo, a political-military movement launched in December with the aim of uniting armed groups, political parties and civil society against Congo’s government. He did not provide any evidence to support his claim.

Tshisekedi's accusation follows the U.S. announcement of sanctions against the AFC last month. Washington accused the alliance of seeking to overthrow Congo's government and fueling conflict in the east of the country. It said the main member of the alliance, the renowned rebel group M23, is already under U.S. sanctions.

Tshisekedi, along with U.S. and U.N. experts, accuse neighboring 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.

Congo and Rwanda last week agreed to a cease-fire that began on Sunday following talks mediated by Angola.

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.

The violence concentrated in the eastern North Kivu province has resulted not just in arbitrary killings but also in sexual abuses. More than one in 10 women living in displaced people camps in the region reported being raped between November 2023 and April 2024, said Doctors without Borders, or MSF, in a report released Tuesday.

“In three of the camps where we work, we treated more than 1,700 survivors of sexual violence in April. In 70% of cases, these acts of violence are committed by weapons carriers,” said Laura Garel, a communications advisor at MSF.

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