Reuters — Blackwater founder Erik Prince deployed a private security force to operate drones and help the Democratic Republic of Congo’s army secure the strategic city of Uvira against Rwanda-backed rebels, four people briefed on the mission said.

The AFC/M23 rebels briefly seized the city on the border with Burundi in December in a major blow to ongoing US and Qatar-backed peace negotiations. They withdrew after Washington threatened to retaliate.

Prince, a supporter of US President Donald Trump and founder of the now-defunct private security firm Blackwater, had been hired by the government in Kinshasa to help secure and improve tax revenue collection from Congo’s vast mineral reserves.

However, the operation to help elite forces recapture Uvira from AFC/M23 rebels is the first known involvement of Prince’s private security forces on the frontline in Congo, widening his role in the decades-long conflict.

A spokesperson for Prince declined to comment. The Congolese presidency and a local army spokesperson did not respond to queries.

One of the sources, a senior security official in Congo, said the presence of US-linked contractors would likely act as a deterrent to AFC/M23 forces, which may be unwilling to risk direct confrontation with Prince’s personnel.

The US has........

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