Rwanda again accused of supporting M23 rebels.

The Kigali army carried out military operations in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and provided "weapons, ammunition and uniforms" to the rebel group, according to a report by UN-mandated experts, not yet published but consulted on Thursday by AFP.

The experts affirm in this document, already transmitted to the Security Council, to have collected "substantial evidence" demonstrating "the direct intervention of the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) on the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo", at least between November 2021 and October 2022.

This new report, which is due to be published in the coming days, emerges as, since relaunching its offensive in October, the Tutsi rebellion of the M23 (March 23 Movement) has conquered large swaths of the territory of North Kivu, province Congolese border with Rwanda, leading to a sharp rise in tension between Kinshasa and Kigali.

Rwanda is accused by Kinshasa, the United States and several European countries including France of supporting the M23.

Kigali denies and in return accuses the Democratic Republic of Congo of instrumentalizing the conflict for electoral purposes and of having "fabricated" a massacre which, according to a United Nations investigation, was committed by the M23 and cost the life of 131 civilians.

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"Troop reinforcements for specific operations"

According to the group of experts, the Rwandan army launched these military operations to "reinforce the M23" and "against the FDLR (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda)", a predominantly Hutu armed group, founded by former leaders of the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.

The existence and violence of this militia, presented as a threat by Kigali, justified past Rwandan interventions in Congolese territory.

The Rwandan army has, according to this report, and as already mentioned in a confidential report dated July, "provided troop reinforcements to the M23 for specific operations, in particular when these aimed to seize towns and strategic areas".

The M23, a predominantly Tutsi armed group defeated in 2013, took up arms again at the end of last year and stepped up its offensive in October, seizing large swaths of territory north of Goma, capital of North Kivu. .

With AFP

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