The United States on Thursday sanctioned a Rwandan government minister for his alleged role in the conflict in neighboring Congo, where Rwanda-backed rebels are battling the Congolese army and have captured more territory, including two key cities.

Rubio was instead headed back to the United States after leading a delegation in talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia over the war in Ukraine. Senior European diplomats are all expected at the G20 meeting in Johannesburg, as are the foreign ministers of Russia and China.

Ugandan troops have entered the eastern Congolese city of Bunia to help local forces stop deadly violence by armed groups, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

Rwanda-backed rebels appeared to be heading toward a third major city in eastern Congo, residents said Tuesday, as international pressure rose over the M23’s expansion in a mineral-rich region that’s critical for global technology.

Rwanda-backed rebels tightened their grip on Bukavu on Monday, a day after seizing the second major city in eastern Congo whose residents appeared resigned to their fate under the new rulers.

The United States carried out an airstrike Sunday against ISIS in Somalia, killing two militants, U.S Africa Command said.

The US has delegated its representation at a Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Johannesburg next week to a locally based official after Secretary of State Marco Rubio snubbed the event.

The Pentagon chief, on his first international trip in his new job, met with rank-and-file troops and two combatant commanders for high-level briefings on threats ranging from militants in Africa to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The dead Islamic State fighter was sprawled out on the ridge, bloodstains darkening in the sun, as a line of heavily armed Somali soldiers snaked down the mountainside to a fortified cave — their camouflage uniforms marking a new front line in the fight against the global terrorist group.

A Utah National Guard officer deployed to Djibouti recently received a six-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to sexual harassment during a court-martial at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza.