The United States government has imposed sanctions on six targets, two individuals and four companies, for smuggling conflict minerals out of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to benefit the Rwanda-backed armed group M23.
The two individuals and four entities sanctioned include Gasabo Gold Refinery Limited and its chairman Jean Malic Kalima, along with three other Rwandan mining companies.
The United States said M23 and its backers exploit the DRC’s vast mineral resources to fund weapons, pay fighters, and sustain a destabilising insurgency that has triggered a severe humanitarian crisis.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control said it imposed sanctions on a network working in coordination with the Rwanda-backed M23 to illegally smuggle minerals from eastern DRC to Rwanda, in an action it said supports the historic Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity brokered by President Donald Trump between the DRC and Rwanda.
The designations are the latest in a series of U.S. actions, including sanctions on conflict mineral traffickers in August 2025, that the United States said demonstrate it will impose consequences on those who profit from eastern DRC’s suffering.
The United States said it remains committed to a peaceful and prosperous Great Lakes region with a minerals sector free of illicit flows or conflict financing, that contributes to local economic growth and secure global supply chains.
Minerals sourced from eastern DRC are frequently smuggled through Rwanda before being transported to major refining and processing countries.
Armed groups raise funds by selling these minerals and imposing illegal taxation schemes on miners, often in collusion with corrupt local officials.
Mines controlled by armed groups are also linked to forced labour, child labour, and sexual and gender-based violence.
M23 is a Rwanda-backed armed group that first emerged in the DRC in 2012 and has since expanded to occupy large portions of North and South Kivu provinces, including the provincial capitals Goma and Bukavu.
It has been designated as a sanctioned entity by both the United States and the United Nations for human rights abuses and regional destabilisation.
The United States sanctioned the Rwanda Defence Force and four of its senior officials in March 2026, after M23 captured the Congolese city of Uvira just days after Trump presided over the signing of the Washington Accords in December 2025, in what Washington described as a blatant violation of the peace agreement.
Rwanda has consistently rejected allegations that it backs M23, describing previous American sanctions as unjust targeting of the country.
(The Whistler)