Drone strike in eastern Congo kills senior rebel official, escalating tensions

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A spokesperson for the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels fighting in eastern Congo has been killed in a drone strike, a local U.N. official and a rights group said Tuesday, escalating tensions over the region’s conflict after peace negotiations stalled.

Willy Ngoma, a senior officer who was deeply involved in M23’s operations in eastern Congo, was said to have been killed in a predawn drone strike near the North Kivu province’s mining town of Rubaya.

The local U.N.