DR Congo expels the ambassador of Rwanda

• The DRC has ordered Rwandan Ambassador Vincent Karega to leave the nation within 48 hours.
• Rwanda has consistently disputed claims made by the DRC that it is supporting the rebels.
• The decision to deport Karega is anticipated to exacerbate already tense relations between the two nations.

After accusing Kigali of backing M23 rebels who have taken control of two towns in the DRC’s east, the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has ordered Rwandan Ambassador Vincent Karega to leave the nation within 48 hours, escalating tensions between the two nations.

Following a meeting of the defense council chaired by President Felix Tshisekedi in response to rebels capturing control of Kiwanja and Rutshuru in the province of North Kivu, the government’s declaration on Saturday was made by government spokesman Patrick Muyaya.

Rwanda has consistently disputed claims made by the Democratic Republic of the Congo that it is supporting the rebels. The decision to deport Karega is anticipated to exacerbate already tense relations between the two nations that have existed for a long time.

In recent days, “a large entrance of elements of the Rwandan element to support the M23 terrorists,” according to Muyaya, had been seen against the DR Congo’s military.

Thousands of people had been forced to leave their homes as a result of “this criminal and terrorist activity,” he continued.

The UN peacekeeping operation, known as MONUSCO, raised its “troop alert level” in response to the most recent rebel advance and increased support for the army.

The Congolese army and M23 rebels engaged in fierce fighting on Saturday morning in Kiwanja, which is located 43 miles  from the North Kivu city of Goma.

Local civil society activist John Banyene later revealed to The Associated Press that the rebels now now controlled Rutshuru Center in addition to Kiwanja. Unnamed officials were cited by AFP as saying that the rebels had taken over the towns.

The M23 rebels and their supporters currently hold the town of Kiwanja, we can affirm, but the DRC armed forces are not giving up, Banyene told reporters in Goma.

The military or Congolese authorities did not immediately confirm the alleged takeover of the two towns.

The M23 was established in 2012, and the same year it seized Goma, the largest city in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it claimed to be fighting for the rights of Congolese Tutsis, an ethnic group related to Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame. Many M23 fighters were incorporated into the national military following a peace agreement in 2013.

After going years without engaging in combat, the organization started fighting again in late 2021, blaming the government for breaking a commitment to demobilize its troops.

Since then, it has seized significant amounts of land in North Kivu, including the crucial town of Bunagana on the Ugandan border in June.

Since May, M23 has carried out its longest-lasting onslaught in years, killing dozens of people and driving at least 40,000 others from their homes in the space of just one week. Even before the most recent spike in violence, about 200,000 people had already been displaced over the previous year.

The return of the M23 has heightened regional tensions and sparked fatal protests against the UN peacekeeping presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which locals accuse of failing to protect them.

The allegations are refuted by Rwanda, which argues that Kinshasa collaborates with the infamous Hutu rebel group the Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which was responsible for the 1994 massacre of Tutsis.

In a study published in August, UN experts claimed to have “strong evidence” that soldiers from Rwanda were undertaking operations in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to aid the M23 rebel organization.

However, Rwanda has always refuted the claims and has asserted that some civilians were hurt during cross-border firing by Congolese forces.

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