# DRC creates US- and UAE-backed paramilitary mine guard as Washington Accords begin to implement M23 withdrawal sequencing > The DRC announced in April 2026 a new paramilitary unit backed by the US and UAE to secure major cobalt, copper and lithium mining sites; in March the DRC, Rwanda and US agreed Washington Accords implementation steps including M23 withdrawal and FDLR disarmament **Meta:** type: story · date: 2026-04-27 · heads: 누구의 돈인가, 장기전 · 7 takes · 1 lenses · 4 regions ## Summary The [Democratic Republic of Congo](/ko/entity/drc) announced in April 2026 that it would create a new paramilitary unit, backed by the US and UAE, to secure major mining sites, as Washington and Abu Dhabi competed with China for preferential access to Congolese cobalt, copper and lithium. The move followed the December 2025 Washington Accords between the DRC and Rwanda, brokered by the US, and the March 2026 Washington meetings in which DRC and Rwandan representatives agreed implementation steps: an M23 withdrawal sequencing plan and a timetable for disarmament of the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which Rwanda cites as its security justification for M23 support). In May 2026, M23 fighters began pulling back from several towns north of Uvira in eastern DRC, a fragile but visible ceasefire step. The peace process runs alongside a contested minerals scramble: Congolese civil society groups documented fears that the US-DRC strategic minerals partnership was replicating colonial extraction patterns, while a Global Initiative analysis found that illicit mining revenues from M23-controlled coltan, gold and tin were financing the very occupation the peace process was meant to end. ## The split The Tshisekedi government and US officials frame the Washington Accords and the paramilitary mine guard as interlocked tools of sovereignty restoration: protecting Congolese mineral wealth from illicit extraction while building the security infrastructure needed to enforce the peace. Congolese civil society organisations and regional analysts counter that the paramilitary force replicates the pattern of external actors securing resource access under the banner of security assistance, and that communities near mining sites will bear environmental and human-rights costs that do not appear in the headline investment agreements. Rwanda maintains that the FDLR remains a genuine security threat that justifies its support for M23, a claim the UN Group of Experts has consistently rejected on factual grounds. ## By the numbers - December 2025, the date of the Washington Accords between DRC and Rwanda - March 17-18, 2026, the Washington meetings agreeing M23 withdrawal sequencing - April 27, 2026, the announcement of the US- and UAE-backed paramilitary mine guard - May 2026, M23 began partial withdrawal from towns north of Uvira - 3, mineral categories at the centre of the strategic competition (cobalt, copper, lithium) ## Why it matters The [Drc](/ko/entity/drc) holds approximately 70% of the world's known cobalt reserves, a mineral essential for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage, alongside significant copper and lithium deposits. The Washington Accords and the US-UAE minerals strategy represent the most explicit American effort to secure a share of Congolese mineral supply chains in a generation. Whether this produces peace or a new extraction arrangement with different beneficiaries depends on whether the paramilitary force is accountable to Congolese governance structures or to the foreign governments and firms backing it. The illicit revenue financing M23 means the economic incentive for the occupation persists even if the political and diplomatic pressure mounts. ## What to watch - Whether M23's partial withdrawal from eastern DRC towns continues to a full ceasefire, and whether the FDLR disarmament timetable is actually implemented. - Paramilitary mine guard: which specific sites it covers, what its chain of command is, and whether it is subject to Congolese law or parallel accountability to US/UAE entities. - US company mineral concession acquisitions: whether they produce local revenue-sharing agreements or replicate the extractive contracts that characterised previous waves of DRC mining investment. - Rwanda's response to the Washington Accords implementation pressure, and whether Kagame changes his position on M23 as Western economic leverage increases. ## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens) ### unlabelled - **Al Jazeera (paramilitary guard)** (Qatar, en) — Al Jazeera reports the DRC planning to create a US- and UAE-backed paramilitary unit to secure major mining sites, as Washington and Abu Dhabi seek to lock in preferential access to Congolese cobalt, copper and lithium as part of the broader strategic minerals competition with China. > "DR Congo to establish US, UAE-backed paramilitary guard for mines." Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/27/dr-congo-to-establish-us-uae-backed-paramilitary-guard-for-mines - **US State Department (Washington Accords)** (United States, en) — US State Department joint statement from March 17-18, 2026, confirming that DRC and Rwandan representatives met in Washington and agreed to concrete steps to implement the December 2025 Washington Accords, including M23 withdrawal sequencing and a timetable for FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) disarmament. > "Joint statement on advancing the Washington Accords between the US, DRC and Rwanda." Source: https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/03/joint-statement-by-the-governments-of-the-united-states-of-america-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-the-republic-of-rwanda-on-advancing-the-washington-accords - **Al Jazeera (civilian fears)** (Qatar, en) — Al Jazeera feature documenting Congolese civil society and mining community fears about exploitation as the US-DRC strategic minerals partnership advances and American firms move to acquire concessions in copper and cobalt operations, with community leaders questioning whether revenue will reach local populations. > "We are exploited: Congolese fear losing out as US makes minerals deals." Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/2/4/we-are-exploited-congolese-fear-losing-out-as-us-makes-minerals-deals - **Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime** (Switzerland, en) — Global Initiative analysis, one year after M23 seized Goma, documenting how illicit mining profits from coltan, gold and tin in M23-controlled eastern DRC are financing the continued occupation and creating economic incentives that make a durable ceasefire structurally difficult despite the Washington Accords. > "Goma one year on: illicit profits and failed peace." Source: https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/goma-one-year-on-illicit-profits-failed-peace/ - **Responsible Statecraft** (United States, en) — Responsible Statecraft analysis of how American firms are moving rapidly to claim DRC mineral concessions even as the Washington Accords' implementation remains contested, raising questions about whether the US minerals strategy prioritises Congolese sovereignty or American commercial access. > "US companies rush into Congo before the ink is dry on the peace deal." Source: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/congo-rwanda-peace-deal-2673888064/ - **Africanews (M23 withdrawal)** (France, en) — Source: https://www.africanews.com/2026/05/12/m23-pulls-back-from-eastern-drc-towns-as-ceasefire-pressure-mounts/ - **Al Jazeera (civilians, peace talks)** (Qatar, en) — Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/19/drc-government-m23-rebels-commit-to-protect-civilians-aid-deliveries ## Across the graph - Related: [[rwanda-economy-2026]] - Entities: Drc --- Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/ko/n/drc-minerals-us-deal-2026