The UN Security Council must push Rwanda to stop “providing support” for the M23 armed group in DR Congo’s North Kivu province, Amnesty International said Thursday.

This comes as the UN redeployed peacekeepers to the main eastern city of Goma.

The agency warned that there is likely to be a major humanitarian crisis in northern Kivu if Rwanda continues to support the M23 armed group, which captured the strategic towns of Rutshuru and Kiwanja last weekend.

A recent UN report blamed Rwanda for supporting the M23 by providing training and weapons. But President Paul Kagame hit back hard, denying Rwandan involvement and accusing some Western powers of having planned a coup against President Joseph Kabila before last year’s elections in the DRC.

“While redeploying UN troops to Goma to protect civilians is a positive step, the situation in the North Kivu is so tense that it has the potential to turn into a regional conflict if the international community does not take urgent measures,” said Aster van Kregten, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Africa.

Even though Rwanda has denied supporting the rebel group, a UN report last month provided substantial evidence that senior Rwandan officials have backed the M23 armed group, led by Bosco Ntaganda, a former general in the Congolese army who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

The UN and authorities in eastern DR Congo say the M23 have driven back the Congolese government army in a determined offensive over the last few days. Amnesty International has received reports from numerous sources that M23 is using heavy artillery and continue to forcibly recruit civilians.

There are reports that two civilians were killed by the M23 in Bunagana on Sunday when they refused to join the group, while two other civilians were killed during the fighting.

“The recent violence in North Kivu has already led to human rights abuses against civilians and any escalation in the violence will place civilians at further risk. The future of the eastern Congolese people now mainly lies in the hands of the UN Security Council to effectively protect civilians.” said van Kregten.

He added that the Council must condemn the reported breach of the UN arms embargo by Rwanda and take concrete measures to prevent any further violations of human rights or international humanitarian law.

While the M23 is threatening to attack Goma, recent reports indicate that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) - whose leaders are believed to have taken part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda - and other armed groups such as the Mai Mai are also in Rutshuru territory, increasing the fear of violence against civilians.

On Thursday, the M23 political coordinator, Bishop Jean Marie Runiga, warned that the group would take over Goma if the killing of civilians does not stop immediately.

The armed group named themselves the M23 after a failed peace agreement signed on 23 March 2009. The M23 defected from the Congolese army in April this year amid pressure on the government to arrest General Ntaganda.