UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today called on Rwandan forces to withdraw from the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and to end their support for the rebel group M23 (March 23 Movement), in the clearest condemnation of Kigali's actions to date, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
Antonio Guterres, "deeply concerned by the escalation of violence", called on "Rwanda's defense forces to stop supporting M23 and to withdraw from the territory of DR Congo," his spokesman said in a statement.
Until now, the Secretary-General had been referring to the conclusions of a reference report by UN experts, which highlights Kigali's role in the actions of the M23 - an anti-government group involved in the fighting against the Congolese army in the eastern part of the DR Congo. But without explicitly calling on Rwandan forces to end their support and withdraw.
"The Secretary-General reminds all parties to the conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian law. He recalls that attacks on UN personnel may constitute a war crime", his spokesman said in a statement, amid the killing of three peacekeepers in the past two days.