M23 rebels patrol the streets of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Congolese officials have leveled serious accusations against Rwanda’s military and the M23 rebel faction it allegedly supports, claiming they are responsible for a wave of atrocities in the conflict-ravaged eastern region of the country.
According to a statement issued by Congo’s interior ministry on Wednesday, the alleged abuses took place between May 10 and 13 and targeted civilians whom the rebels accused of being affiliated with the Congolese military or its allied militia groups.
“The toll includes 107 murders, more than 4,000 men and boys abducted and forcibly loaded onto trucks to an unknown destination, hundreds of cases of summary executions, rape, torture, looting, restrictions on freedom of movement, as well as incursions into health facilities,” the statement read.
These claims have yet to be independently corroborated. The Associated Press reported that both the Rwandan military and M23 did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment.
The conflict in eastern Congo, which has simmered for decades, sharply intensified earlier this year. In January, M23 forces captured the strategic city of Goma, followed by Bukavu in February. The renewed hostilities have resulted in an estimated 3,000 deaths and sparked growing concern about a potential regional war.
The allegations from Kinshasa surfaced shortly after M23 publicly showcased hundreds of detained individuals in a stadium in Goma. The group insisted the captives were members of the Congolese army or affiliated militia fighters, claiming Congo had armed them to ignite violence and then shift the blame to M23.
According to U.N. investigators, M23 benefits from the support of roughly 4,000 Rwandan troops and has, at times, issued threats to advance toward the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, located more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the west.
The roots of the current unrest are tied to long-standing ethnic tensions in the region. M23 contends it is protecting Congo’s ethnic Tutsi community. Rwanda, for its part, argues that Tutsis in Congo are under threat from Hutus and remnants of the militias behind the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of around 800,000 people, primarily Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
After the genocide, many Hutus crossed into Congo and established the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel group that Rwanda now claims is “fully integrated” into Congo’s armed forces, a claim Congo continues to reject.