The US has condemned Saturday Rwanda’s support of the armed M23 group in eastern Congo, whose rebellion has caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, and called on the rebel group to “cease hostilities.”

The US statement strongly criticised “the worsening violence... caused by the actions of the Rwanda-backed, US and UN-sanctioned M23 armed group”. It called on Rwanda “to immediately withdraw all Rwanda Defense Force personnel from Congo and remove its surface-to-air missile systems”, which it said threatened civilian lives and peacekeepers. It also urged the rebels to retreat from their current positions near two urban areas in the North Kivu province.