The U.S. government sanctioned an armed group accused of illicit trading in minerals in eastern Congo as Washington tries to spearhead peace efforts there while pushing for U.S. access to the region’s minerals.
A senior U.S. government official who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement said the State and Treasury departments are sanctioning the PARECO armed group, which controlled the key coltan mining site of Rubaya from 2022 to early 2024.
The U.S. is also sanctioning the Congolese mining company CDMC, saying it sold minerals which were sourced and smuggled from mines near Rubaya, and two Hong Kong exporters, East Rise and Star Dragon, that purchased minerals from the mining area. The State Department said it is freezing the assets of the armed group and companies in the U.S. or under U.S. control and banning all transactions with them.
Rubaya is currently under control of the M23 rebel group, which is already targeted by U.S. sanctions. The mining site lies in the heart of eastern Congo, a mineral-rich part of the Central African nation, which for decades has been ripped apart by violence from government forces and different armed groups, including the Rwanda-backed M23, whose recent resurgence has escalated the conflict, worsening an already acute humanitarian crisis.
Read more here.
