DR Congo Denies Allegations of Staged Handover of Hutu Rebels to Rwanda
The DRC military rejects claims of capturing Hutu rebels, calling a handover to Rwanda staged. The M23 armed group claimed to have captured FDLR fighters and shared a video of the event. The DRC accuses Rwanda of manipulation and serious war crimes amid escalating conflict in the region.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) army has emphatically denied the capture of 20 fighters allegedly connected to the Rwandan genocide, characterizing the reported handover to Rwanda as a contrived event. This statement follows the assertions by the Rwanda-supported M23 armed group that they had apprehended fighters from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a militia established by ethnic Hutus involved in the 1994 genocide.
The M23 group, with backing from Rwanda, has made significant territorial gains in the mineral-rich eastern DRC, including key urban centers such as Goma and Bukavu. To support their narrative, the M23 released a video purportedly showing their forces transferring 20 alleged FDLR fighters to Rwandan authorities at the border. The DRC military has dismissed this incident as a fabricated scheme intended to undermine their credibility.
In their statement, the DRC high command accused Rwanda of deliberately staging the handover by dressing old FDLR detainees in new uniforms and presenting them as freshly captured fighters. Furthermore, they asserted that the Rwandan military has committed serious violations, including summary executions of injured soldiers in a Goma field hospital, which they describe as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Concerns regarding the ongoing conflict in eastern DRC highlight the potential for the situation to escalate into a broader regional confrontation involving Rwanda, Uganda, and other nations.
In summary, the DR Congo military has refuted claims regarding the handover of alleged FDLR fighters, labeling the event as fabricated to discredit their forces. The situation reflects the ongoing tensions in eastern DRC, where the conflict has raised alarms of a wider regional war amid accusations of serious human rights violations by Rwanda. As militias contend for control, the political landscape remains precarious.
Original Source: jordantimes.com
