A Rwandan military offensive in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Tutsis, according to statements from Tutsi sources.
The Movement of Federal Republican Forces (FRF) said that ”between 4 000 and 6 000 Rwandan troops” had invaded the uplands in the South Kivu province in the eastern DRC with hundreds reported dead in the region.
Rwandan-backed rebels of the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) have been fighting troops loyal to dissident Commander Masunzu since the beginning of March.
Masunzu, who belongs to the Banyamulenge ethnic group of Congolese Tutsis from South Kivu, has accused the Rwandan army of betraying the interests of his community and wants the soldiers and the RCD, which controls most of eastern DRC, out of the vast central African nation.
”Hundreds of dead have been registered in and around Minembwe. Terrorised and humiliated, the Banyamulenge population are equally the victims of looting and arbitrary arrests by occupation troops,” the statement continued.
”In his military campaign against the occupation, Commander Masunzu is well entrenched in his positions. He benefits from the total support of all his community and of thousands of Mai-Mai resistant fighters (tribal militias traditionally hostile to the Congolese Tutsis) who have joined him,” the FRF said.
The FRF is opposed to the inter-Congolese dialogue which is taking place in South Africa and in the statement called on ”other Congolese patriots” to unite with their forces in ”resisting the occupation”.
Another Banyamulenge organisation, Shikama, has also claimed that around 500 people were killed during the course of the Rwandan offensive.
These included ”women, old people and children targeted during helicopter bombardments and more than 200 Rwandan dead”.
Despite the claims by the two Tutsi groups, there has yet to be any independent confirmation of the figures.
Shikama also accused the Kigali government of allowing the Rwandan intervention which it said was led by ”armed groups and genocidal militias.”
The organisation has demanded the demilitarisation of Kivu province and has called for it to be placed under the protection of the UN.
The DRC war has involved most of the country’s regional neighbours who have openly provided the government and rebel forces with military assistance.
The conflict is estimated to have killed around 2,5-million people. – AFP
