RWANDA’S government asserted solidarity today with a top official sanctioned by the US over violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have captured two major cities in an armed conflict that now threatens the Congolese government.

Rwanda’s government described the sanctions against General James Kabarebe, a deputy minister of foreign affairs, as “unjustified and unfounded.”

Responding to the sanctions, Rwanda’s government said in a statement that such action makes “no contribution toward long-term security, peace and stability for all the countries of the Great Lakes region.”

Securing the border with the DRC is “a matter of national security, and that is our only driver,” it said.

Sanctions against Mr Kabarebe are a blow to Rwanda, which for years has evaded the international community’s punishment over its aggression in neighbouring DRC.

The sanctions announced on Thursday finger Rwanda as the primary force behind M23, whose fighters now say they want to overthrow the DRC’s President Felix Tshisekedi.

The US State Department statement said that Mr Kabarebe, who is officially the minister of state in charge of regional integration, is the Rwandan official who liaises with M23 in handling revenue from exports of minerals from the DRC.

Mr Kabarebe was sanctioned along with Lawrence Kanyuka Kingston, a spokesman for M23. Two companies linked to Mr Kanyuka Kingston and registered in Britain and France were also sanctioned.

Meanwhile, 22 people fleeing the M23’s advance drowned when their boat capsised on Wednesday.

The boat was carrying people from Vitshumbi on the southern shore of Lake Edward towards Virunga National Park on the northern side of the lake, said Delphin Malekani, the president of the local civil society in Kyavinonge.

The majority of victims were people fleeing the ongoing advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. Authorities didn’t immediately say what caused the boat to capsize. There were eight survivors, officials said.

This week, M23 seized another provincial capital in Goma’s south, Bukavu, near Burundi.

The region is rich in gold and coltan, a key mineral for the production of capacitors used in most consumer electronics such as laptops and smartphones.