The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is accusing Apple of using "illegally exploited" minerals extracted from the country's embattled east in its products, lawyers representing the African country said Thursday.

The DRC's lawyers have sent Apple a formal notice seen by AFP, effectively warning the tech giant that it could face legal action if the alleged practice continues.

The Paris-based lawyers accused Apple of purchasing minerals smuggled from the DRC into neighbouring Rwanda, where they are laundered and "integrated into the global supply chain".

Contacted by AFP, Apple pointed to statements from its 2023 annual corporate report regarding the alleged use of so-called conflict minerals that are crucial for a wide range of high-tech products.

"Based on our due diligence efforts... we found no reasonable basis for concluding that any of the smelters or refiners of 3TG (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) determined to be in our supply chain as of December 31, 2023, directly or indirectly financed or benefited armed groups in the DRC or an adjoining country," it said.

The DRC's mineral-rich Great Lakes region has been wracked by violence since regional wars in the 1990s, with tensions resurging in late 2021 when rebels from the March 23 Movement (M23) began recapturing swathes of territory.

The DRC, the United Nations and Western countries accuse Rwanda of supporting rebel groups, including M23, in a bid to control the region's vast mineral resources, an allegation Kigali denies.

"Apple has sold technology made with minerals sourced from a region whose population is being devastated by grave human rights violations," the DRC's lawyers wrote.

Sexual violence, armed attacks and widespread corruption at sites providing minerals to Apple are just some of the claims levelled in the letter.

Macs, iPhones and other Apple products are "tainted by the blood of the Congolese people", the DRC's lawyers said.