Conflict Minerals and Resources

Wealth and Warfare Empower a Rwanda-Backed Militant Group in Congo

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Wealth and Warfare Empower a Rwanda-Backed Militant Group in Congo

Rare-earth minerals critical for smartphone manufacturing. Lucrative trafficking routes and dizzying stockpiles of weapons. The lives of millions of people. All are now under the control of the M23 militia and its powerful backer, Rwanda. M23 reigns over a vast territory in eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, …

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Why Congo’s Vast Army Is Struggling to Fight M23

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Why Congo’s Vast Army Is Struggling to Fight M23

Its soldiers are underpaid and underarmed. Its ranks are riddled with factions pursing their own interests. And successive presidents are said to have kept it weak for fear of a coup. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army has appeared too weak and dysfunctional to stop a militia that has swept …

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