On Monday, the Security Council unanimously agreed to impose an arms embargo on the March 23 (M23) movement and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Associated Press reported.

The sanctions freeze assets of certain people linked to the groups and bar two M23 leaders -- the rebel group's president, Jean-Marie Runiga, and one of its military commanders, Lt. Col. Eric Badege -- from travel.

The sanctions were imposed on the rebel groups one day before Rwanda’s accession to the Security Council for a two-year term.


The UN has accused neighboring Rwanda and Uganda of helping rebels in the DR Congo, an accusation both countries vehemently deny.

The M23 rebels seized the eastern city of Goma on November 20 after UN peacekeepers gave up the battle for the frontier city, which is home to about one million people. The rebels withdrew from the city on December 1 under a ceasefire accord.

The DRC government and the M23 movement have been holding peace talks in the Ugandan capital Kampala since early December. However, the talks were suspended on December 21, after the parties failed to agree on an agenda.

But the two sides agreed to resume negotiations in January after the New Year holidays.

Since early May, over 900,000 people have fled their homes in the eastern Congo. Most of them have resettled in Congo, but tens of thousands have crossed into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.

Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades, such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country that has dragged since 1998 and left over 5.5 million people dead.