A LEAKED report from United Nations experts has accused Rwanda of carrying out military operations against the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rwanda has long denied accusations from Kinshasa that it has had direct involvement in the conflict in the DRC or that it has provided support for the M23 rebels.
But UN experts said that there was “substantial evidence” of direct Rwandan army intervention and that it had supplied weapons, ammunition and uniforms to the rebels.
The M23 militia group has captured swaths of territory in the DRC’s eastern region since it re-emerged again late last year.
Although Rwanda has repeatedly denied that it supports the rebels, the United States and France, along with other Western countries, have agreed with the DRC’s assessment.
According to the report by UN experts, Rwanda’s military intervened to reinforce the M23 as well as to combat the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, who carried out the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.
Rwanda provided troop reinforcements to the M23 “for specific operations, in particular when these were aimed at seizing strategic towns and areas,” the report said.
According to the report, Rwandan troops also led joint attacks with M23 fighters against Congolese positions in May.
The 236-page document for the UN security council is expected to be published soon.
The M23 first came to international prominence when it captured the eastern Congolese city of Goma in 2012 before being driven out and going to ground the following year.
But the rebels re-emerged in late 2021 after they claimed the DRC had ignored a promise to integrate them into the country’s army.
The M23 has since captured swathes of territory in eastern North Kivu province, which borders Rwanda.
The UN Refugee Agency said earlier this year that more than 5.6 million people have been displaced in the DRC. Morning Star
