The situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is plagued by armed groups, is “worse than ever,” said Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Saturday, blaming the authorities in Kinshasa.
Fighting in troubled eastern DRC, a region rich in natural resources, between government forces and rebels from the M23, a former Tutsi rebellion, has heightened tensions with neighboring Rwanda, which accuses the DRC of encouraging militia to have. Kigali denies any involvement. “After tens of billions of dollars have been spent on peacekeeping operations over the past two decades, the security situation in eastern Congo is worse than ever,” the Rwandan leader said in his year-end welcome, believing that “full responsibility” lies with the authorities from Kinshasa.
In a report published in December, experts commissioned by the United Nations claim to have collected “substantial evidence” demonstrating “the direct intervention of the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) on the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo” at least between November 2021 and October 2022 The European Union on Saturday called on Rwanda to “stop supporting the M23”. “It is high time the unjustified defamation of Rwanda stopped,” said Paul Kagame.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo would have “manufactured” a massacre.
The M23 has in recent months taken over much of the territory of North Kivu, a Congolese province bordering Rwanda, and has advanced to within tens of kilometers of Goma.
Rwanda has repeatedly blamed the crisis in eastern DRC on the authorities in Kinshasa and accused the international community of alleged support for the FDLR (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda), a Rwandan Hutu rebel movement with some involvement , ignoring the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.
The existence and violence of this militia, portrayed as a threat by Kigali, justified previous Rwandan interventions in Congolese territory.
For its part, Rwanda accused the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where presidential elections are scheduled for December 2023, of exploiting the conflict for electoral purposes and “fabricating” a massacre, which a United Nations investigation said was committed in late November the M23 and loudly demanded a still preliminary report the lives of at least 131 civilians in the villages of Kishishe and Bambo.
Diplomatic initiatives have been launched to try to resolve the crisis in eastern DRC, where a Kenyan-led East African regional force is based.
On Friday, the Congolese army, supported by self-defense groups, fought again north of Goma against the M23 rebels.