Corneille Nangaa, then president of the DRC Electoral Commission, in Kinshasa, December 29, 2018. Photo: AFP

Washington imposed sanctions on Thursday on a coalition of rebel groups accused of attempting to overthrow the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government and fuelling conflict.

The sanctions target the Congo River Alliance (AFC), a political-military coalition launched in December in Nairobi, Kenya, with the M23 movement as its principal member, which is already under U.S. sanctions.

Congo’s army has been battling the M23 insurgency and other militias in its eastern borderlands for over two years.

Congo, the United Nations, and Western countries have repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting M23 with troops and weapons, allegations that Rwanda denies.

Rwanda, in turn, accuses Congo of supporting the Hutu rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which has attacked Tutsis in both countries.

Additionally, sanctions were imposed on Corneille Nangaa, a former Congo election commission chief accused of undermining elections, who was initially targeted with sanctions in 2019.

The U.S. Treasury Department stated that Nangaa is being sanctioned again for his role as a leader of the Congo River Alliance, which he launched alongside M23 leaders at Nairobi’s Serena Hotel.

On Friday, the EU added nine individuals and one rebel coalition, including several commanders of various groups and the Congo River Alliance, to its sanctions list against armed groups stoking conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

This move brings the total number of entries on the EU sanctions list for the DRC to 31.

Kinshasa has consistently accused Nairobi of supporting the AFC since its launch on Kenyan soil, sparking tensions between the two countries.