What has been a slow-burn crisis in eastern DRC has again exploded into the open. Kagame appears to have calculated that a change of US administration is a good time to strike. A peace process mediated by Angola and sponsored by the US collapsed in the dying days of Joe Biden’s administration.

Rwanda-backed rebels who have captured eastern Congo’s largest city say they plan to take their rebellion to the capital and seek to gain political power.

The United States urged the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to consider measures to halt an offensive by Rwandan troops and M23 rebel forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as a conflict there escalates.