Rwanda Investigations Bureau (RIB) on Friday paraded the recently detained members of different rebel groups operating in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who were among the militia fighters captured recently during military operations by the Congolese army.
The fighters belong to different factions including the Conseil national pour la renaissance et la démocratie (CNRD), the National Liberation Force (NLF) and FDLR (Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda) which remains the largest of these groups, with approximately 8,000 combatants in the North and South Kivu provinces from Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Since 2009, the Government in Kinshasa has at several times allowed to Rwandan forces to enter DRC territory to participate in joint military operations against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel group composed of Rwandan Hutus, many of whom were remnants of the genocidaires who fled into the DRC in 1994.
The joint DRC-Rwandan military operations, Umoja Wetu, “Our Unity” in Swahili — began in mid-January 2009 and concluded in March when Rwandan forces withdrew.
Umoja Wetu was followed by the Kimia II operation, with the DRC continuing to pursue the FDLR with logistical support from the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC).
The goals of the military operations were to capture or kill those FDLR elements that were unwilling to repatriate to Rwanda; dislodge the FDLR from lucrative positions controlling mines in the region; and to improve security for the civilian population.
The group of 58 were all captured recently in terrorism activities in DR Congo, as part of an intensified campaign by the Congolese military against militia groups operating in the country, it said
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CU/abj/APA