The US has offered Congo support brokering an end to the conflict in return for access to the nation’s critical mineral resources.

While it is not clear whether the involvement of Prince on Congo’s frontlines was endorsed by Washington, the operation to help the Kinshasa government retake Uvira followed US calls for the rebels to withdraw.

The US State Department said it did not hold any contracts with Prince or any of his companies.

The Congolese security official said the operation is “in line with the minerals-for-security deal.”

Prince’s team in Congo deployed to Uvira at Kinshasa’s request, one of the sources said, to bolster their efforts at a critical time. The team has since withdrawn and returned to its primary mission, which is improving revenue collection from mining.

“They needed help recapturing Uvira and pulled in every resource they could. Focus is back on the tax police project now,” said the person briefed on the operation.

Another source said Prince’s team may continue to deploy to the frontline when requested by Kinshasa.

One of the sources said Prince’s contractors provided drone support to Congolese special operations forces and the army against M23 rebels in Uvira and the South Kivu highlands. The sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Israelis in Congo with a training mandate

Prince’s contractors operated in coordination with Israeli advisers who were involved in training two Congolese special forces battalions on day and night operations, according to a fifth source briefed on the operation.

“Their [the Israelis’] mandate is training only,” one of them said, without elaborating further on why the Israelis had joined the operation.

The Israeli embassy in the Angola capital of Luanda, which covers Congo, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Fighting in the decades-long conflict flared early last year, with M23 fighters making rapid gains in the east, which is rich in tantalum, gold, lithium and other minerals.

The United Nations and Western powers say Rwanda backs M23, even exercising command and control over the group, though Rwanda denies this.

Rwanda and Congo signed a US-brokered peace agreement in June last year. However, the accord did not involve the AFC/M23.

Congo’s conflict is rooted in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, when remnants of a Hutu militia that slaughtered over a million mostly Tutsi people fled across the border, chased by Tutsi-led Rwandan forces. Rwanda denies having troops in Congo.

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