Congo vs Rwanda conflict… started up in 2022 but lately things are picking up.. M23 set a prison on fire burning at least 100 women to death
- Thread starter Mask
- Start date
Bru, If possible take some pics
During the last few years of World War II, the U.S. government sourced the majority of the uranium necessary to develop the first atomic weapons from a single Congolese mine, named Shinkolobwe.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200803-the-forgotten-mine-that-built-the-atomic-bomb
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200803-the-forgotten-mine-that-built-the-atomic-bomb
Peep game:
I think you know...
Hint Hint: Who was behind the assassination of Patrice Lumumba? & who continues to benefit from that? Just follow the natural resources.....and where those resources go.Yea kinda they don’t look like native Africans, I can tell you that….
Aight im go follow the trail
I think you know all of this, already.
translation: Rwanda is full of shit and is a US pawn.
WEST USING PROXIES TO CARRY OUT WAR IN CONGO The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has boiled over in recent days. The M23 rebels, backed by Uganda and Rwanda, encroached on Goma city on 27 January, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to flee to safer areas. Then, in the capital, Kinshasa, anger over the escalation erupted on 28 January as protesters attacked several embassies.
The collapse of the December 2024 peace talks between the leaders of Rwanda and the DRC has only intensified the crisis. During a 2 April 2024 episode on African Stream’s flagship podcast, ‘Pan-African Attitude,’ Pan-Africanist scholar PLO Lumumba highlighted how international powers have never wanted to help resolve Congo’s conflict. Lumumba added that Western governments have always used Africans to sow division in the mineral-rich Congo to facilitate the exploitation of its resources.
He gave an example of how US and Belgian intelligence services groomed the DRC's longtime president, Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-97), to overthrow revolutionary leader Patrice Lumumba (1925-61) and take power from 1965 until 1997. Lumumba also said the West has used proxies throughout modern times.
The collapse of the December 2024 peace talks between the leaders of Rwanda and the DRC has only intensified the crisis. During a 2 April 2024 episode on African Stream’s flagship podcast, ‘Pan-African Attitude,’ Pan-Africanist scholar PLO Lumumba highlighted how international powers have never wanted to help resolve Congo’s conflict. Lumumba added that Western governments have always used Africans to sow division in the mineral-rich Congo to facilitate the exploitation of its resources.
He gave an example of how US and Belgian intelligence services groomed the DRC's longtime president, Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-97), to overthrow revolutionary leader Patrice Lumumba (1925-61) and take power from 1965 until 1997. Lumumba also said the West has used proxies throughout modern times.
"just greed and cynicism"
Congo's reality since its inception !
to think that Congolese had to fight Belgians in order to have Lumumba's remains said it all !
White mercenaries in the DRC: What's going on here?
The big question is, why is the DRC hiring white mercenaries to fight for them?
Man this some confusing shit
Just kinda understanding the Palestinians conflict, was playing in looking more into the Haiti shit but this might jump into to the Haitian conflict
This kinda mind blogging
Are white mercenaries fighting in the DRC conflict?
Simone SchlindweinJanuary 17, 2023
Western diplomats are deeply worried about the sudden appearance of Eastern European mercenaries in the volatile eastern Congo. Despite denials by Kinshasa, rumors abound that it hired the notorious Russian Wagner Group.
Located on an unpaved side street near the international airport of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),the Hotel Mbiza usually caters to businesspeople or government delegations from the capital, Kinshasa. But since around Christmas of 2022, white military personnel from Eastern Europe have fully booked the hotel.
"There are dozens, maybe even a hundred white men in uniform," a local journalist said. He asked for anonymity for security reasons. "They wear a variety of uniforms with no national flags, and pistols on belts," he said.
The journalist added that soldiers of the Congolese presidential guard closely guarded the hotel entrance. They told him foreigners had booked all the rooms for an extended period. "It is now the headquarters of the whites," explained a soldier at the entrance, who refused to say more.
Diplomatic circles have been speculating for weeks on the meaning of the presence of these armed Eastern European men in Goma amid a new round of fighting in eastern DRC.The war erupted last spring after Tutsi rebels of the M23 (March 23 Movement) seized a vast swath of land along the border with neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.
Congo's army has been incurring heavy losses in the fighting. The presence of white armed men at the Mbiza Hotel sparked rumors that the government had hired the notorious Russian mercenary Wagner Group to help fight the rebels.
Wagner Group mercenaries operate fairly publicly in MaliImage: Florent Vergnes/AFP
Wagner's growing presence in Africa
The Wagner Group is seen as Russia's "shadow army." It is stationed at the front lines in the Ukraine war and is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity there. In Africa, Wagner mercenaries have been hired to help fight Islamist insurgents in Mali and rebels in the Central African Republic.Rwandan social media accounts say that the Wagner mercenaries are now in Congo. Rwanda, which the United Nations accuses of supporting M23 rebels in Congo, is interested in casting Kinshasa's government in a bad light by spreading rumors of possible ties to the Wagner Group.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has consistently denied the presence of Wagner mercenaries on his country's territory. "I know it's fashionable now," he had said in a recent interview, adding: "No, we don't have to use mercenaries."
Women are joining forces with the army to fight M23Image: Benjamin Kasembe/DW
However, in January, photos began circulating on Twitter showing the corpse of a white man in a camouflage uniform lying in the dirt. "This is what happens to the Russians of Wagner," someone commented underneath.
According to research by the German newspaper taz, the M23 leadership confirmed that the white man was killed in the village of Karenga on December 30. But the journalist who spoke to DW emphasized that most Congolese really can't tell if the men are Russian or from other Eastern European nations. Still, the Congolese in Goma refer to the mercenaries as "Russians," clearly linking them to the Wagner Group.
Congolese government denies hiring Wagner mercenaries
Congo's government recently explained why it does not need to hire Wagner's mercenaries. "If we get Sukhoi aircraft [Russian fighter planes], we need the technical personnel to maintain them. If we don't have that manpower, what do we do?" said Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya.He said that the military should be trained with existing resources. He mentioned former members of the French Legion as an example.
In May, Defense Minister Kabanda watched a flight demonstration of Sukhoi jets at the Congolese Air Force airfield in Kinshasa. On the tarmac, there were Eastern European men in uniforms with the insignia of the private Bulgarian company "Agemira." Kabanda praised them for having repaired old combat helicopters in only 57 days.
UN investigators confirmed that Agemira had stationed some 40 engineers and flight technicians at the airport in Goma to carry out repairs. Among them were Bulgarians, Georgians and Belarusians, who are familiar with Russian aircraft. In addition, Congo's air force employs Georgian pilots to fly fighter jets.
Romanian mercenaries from Potra's company now guard the Goma airport while Agemira technicians oversee aircraft maintenance. Congo's army wants to ensure that the strategically important tarmac, just a few dozen kilometers from the front line, will not fall into rebel hands, as it did during the last war in 2012. Back then, M23 fighters looted the army depots at the airport, including medium-range missiles from Russia.
Pressure on Rwanda grows over rebel violence in DRCongo
Spotlight on Romanian mercenary group
Another picture, posted online on January 2 by Fiston Mahamba, a journalist with the fact-checking portal Congo Check, provided more concrete clues, says taz's report. It shows a white, fairly mature-aged man with an AK-47 assault rifle standing between two soldiers on the road, presumably north of Goma. This is believed to be a photo of a seasoned mercenary from Romania named Horatiu Potra.He was a member of the French Foreign Legion in the 1990s and was known to be very active in Africa in the following decades. He trained the bodyguards of then-President Ange-Felix Patasse in the Central African Republic and taught insurgents in Chad how to fight.
He also knows his way around Congo. In 2002, he contacted Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, who helped Patasse in the neighboring Central African Republic, according to the taz article. The publication asked several international Wagner experts and UN investigators, but no one could confirm ties between Potra and Wagner.
Potra, in turn, is the managing director of the Romanian mercenary group Asociatia RALF, based in Sibiu. Its website states that the company trains bodyguards for VIPs, protects "sensitive areas" such as mines, and trains special forces. The firm did not respond to email inquiries.
An employee of Congo's immigration authority stationed at the airport in Goma said that he stamped Romanian passports of the white military personnel on arrival.
The Congolese army is in dire need of modern military equipmentImage: Benjamin Kasembe/DW
A need for Russian arms
Kinshasa has strengthened ties with Russia over the past year. As recently as August, Defense Minister Gilbert Kabanda was invited to a security conference in Moscow, where he praised Russia's support.Moscow, in turn, had promised to help to equip Congo's ailing army with new, modern military gear, especially tanks, helicopters and combat aircraft.
Until recently, the promise was not easy to fulfill because of the arms embargo that the UN Security Council imposed on Congo in 2003.
Under a new resolution adopted by the Security Council on December 20, countries are no longer required to inform the UN about arms sales or military support for the Congolese government. Two days later, the white mercenaries with Romanian passports started arriving in Goma.
Congo's army can use all the help it can get. Its air force consists mainly of old Russian planes. One of two much-needed transport helicopters crashed in action last year. The rest of the equipment, in constant use in the fight against M23, is in urgent need of maintenance. But Russia needs its weapons in the war against Ukraine. Supply by the world market has shrunk and has become very expensive.
This article was translated from German
Are white mercenaries fighting in the DRC conflict? – DW – 01/17/2023
Western diplomats are deeply worried about the sudden appearance of Eastern European mercenaries in the volatile eastern Congo. Despite denials by Kinshasa, rumors abound that it hired the notorious Russian Wagner Group.
www.dw.com
Last edited:
I just posted a 2023 article about it......, it may be the Russian Wagner group.
one more:
Author: The EastAfrican
East African Community force soldiers drive in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on December 2, 2022. The simmering conflict in eastern DRC has roped in Russia and other Eastern European countries now accused of aiding Kinshasa with mercenaries.
The simmering conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has roped in Russia and other Eastern European countries now accused of aiding Kinshasa with mercenaries.
Rwanda, a neighbour Kinshasa considers belligerent and roundly accused of supporting the M23 rebels in their fight against the Felix Tshisekedi government, has accused the Congolese government of preparing for war instead of de-escalating tensions in line with the various peace initiatives underway.
Kigali has always denied any involvement with the rebels.
On Thursday, the Paul Kagame administration released a terse statement, alleging that Kinshasa had imported mercenaries to aid its war against the M23.
Presence of mercenaries
M23, in a separate statement the same day, reiterated the presence of mercenaries courtesy of the government.
By press time, Kinshasa had not responded to these claims.
Diplomatic tensions between the two East African Community (EAC) partner states heated up and relations went a notch low, with Kigali accusing its neighbour of undermining ongoing regional efforts to bring stability to the eastern part of the country.
If it is established that the Russian mercenary company, Wagner Group, has set up camp in the DR Congo, it could complicate the conflict, which regional blocs — the EAC and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) — are trying to resolve.
It also provides Kigali with ammunition to counter accusations by Kinshasa of supporting the rebels. Congo has been demanding the exit of all foreign armed groups from its eastern region.
Kigali is now saying, “Look who’s harbouring foreign fighters!”
Rwanda accusations
On Thursday, the Rwanda government statement said: “The recruitment of foreign mercenaries by the DRC is a clear indication that the DRC is preparing for war, and not peace. Of particular concern to Rwanda is the complete disregard of the Luanda decision to ‘consider and resolve the issue of the return of refugees to their countries of origin.’ Rwanda continues to bear the burden of hosting over 75,000 Congolese refugees, with more arriving daily due to continued insecurity and persecution in eastern DRC. The DRC government has not acknowledged the situation of these refugees and made no effort to facilitate their safe return to their homes in the DRC.”
President Kagame first spoke publicly about the presence of mercenaries in the Congo on January 9, 2023, during the swearing-in of the new president of the Rwanda Senate.
‘Situation is a mess’
“When you hear a situation is relying on mercenaries, you know that situation is a mess. If it comes to us dealing with the mercenaries, we are overstocked to deal with mercenaries. Mercenaries are the most useless people you can rely on,” Kagame told the Upper House of Parliament in Kigali, adding that bringing in mercenaries would deteriorate the situation.
“It gets worse, not better,” he warned.
Asked by the Financial Times in October last year about the presence of mercenaries in Congo, President Tshisekedi dismissed the allegations saying, “I know it’s fashionable now… No, we don’t have to use mercenaries.”
Investigation
German publication Taz was the first to report that its independent investigation with multiple sources in DRC — including local journalists, M23 rebels and the general Congolese public — confirmed the presence of European fighters, whom many refer to as Russians.
Confirmed arrival
According to Taz, an employee of Congo’s immigration department at the airport in Goma confirmed their arrival.
“When the white military arrived on December 22, he stamped passports from Romania in a Boeing 737 chartered by the Romanian airline, Hello Jets. A photo posted online January 2 gives more concrete clues. A white elderly man with cropped hair, dressed in civilian clothes but holding an AK-47 assault rifle, stands between two Congolese soldiers on road north of Goma. This man is a seasoned mercenary from Romania: Horatiu Potra,” the publication wrote.
German public broadcaster DW this week reported the presence of “white military personnel from Eastern Europe” in Mbiza Hotel, Goma, quoting security sources who traced their presence to Christmas.
“There are dozens, maybe even a hundred white men in uniform,” a local journalist told DW. “They wear a variety of uniforms with no national flags, and pistols on belts.”
Presidential guard
The journalist added that soldiers of the Congolese presidential guard closely guarded the Mbiza Hotel entrance. They told him foreigners had booked all the rooms for an extended period.
“It is now the headquarters of the whites,” reported DW, quoting a soldier at the entrance.
Diplomatic circles have been speculating for weeks on the coincidence of the presence of armed Eastern Europeans in Goma amid a new round of fighting in eastern DRC.
Then there have been photos circulating on Twitter showing the corpse of a white man in camouflage uniform lying in dirt.
“This is what happens to the Russians of Wagner,” someone commented.
Taz said the M23 leadership confirmed that the white man was killed in the village of Karenga on December 30, 2022.
Technical support
When the rumours of mercenaries first emerged earlier this month, Kinshasa refuted them. It did, however, suggest that it is free to engage foreign technical support, especially after buying military hardware from Europe.
“It is said today that the DRC is hiring mercenaries. The President had answered this question very clearly. He said that we are not going to resort to a militia to solve a militia problem,” said Patrick Muyaya, the Congolese minister for Information and government spokesman.
“But the DRC, as a sovereign state, is entitled to organise its defence. When we have Sukhoi planes, but there are technical personnel who must maintain them, and if we don’t have the manpower what do we do?
“When the country [DRC] needs to train its military, we need instructors and we have skills, particularly from the French legion. Should we deprive ourselves of the means to train our military to defend the integrity of our territory? All this is part of a bad campaign because they want to avoid international attention on the responsibility of Rwanda through the M23 in the aggression of the DRC, in the massacre of Kishishe,” he said, referring to a recent spate of killings cited in a UN Panel of Experts report.
Since last year, members of the Bulgarian private army Agemira have appeared in DR Congo and were once praised by local officials for repairing old combat helicopters in under two months, according to the DW. They also demonstrated the firepower of a Sukhoi fighter jet to one minister in Kinshasa.
UN report
The information about the presence of mercenaries is also detailed in a UN report, which cited Romanians, Bulgarians, Georgians and Belarussians – Europeans who traditionally have close ties with Russia -- among those spotted in the DR Congo.
The Wagner Group, a private military company begun by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former aide of Russian President Vladmir Putin nicknamed “Putin’s Chef,” has been cited across Africa, operating in conflict areas including Mali, the Central Africa Republic, Sudan and briefly in Mozambique.
Their operations have been controversial. In Mali they have been praised for fighting insurgents but are accused of violations, too. The US has since 2021 sanctioned its leaders, including Yevgeny. But the company still operates across key conflicts, providing deniability for Moscow.
Nonetheless, the DRC may be profiting from its recent freedom to engage foreign military support without seeking permission from the UN Security Council’s sanctions committee.
Arms sales
On December 20, 2022, the Council lifted the requirement for notification and countries are no longer required to inform the UN about arms sales or military support for the Congolese government. Three weeks later, a Turkish military aircraft touched down in Goma with a “donation” of weapons.
Lt-Gen Constant Ndima, the military governor of North Kivu, who received the equipment on behalf of President Tshisekedi, said the Turkish donation “will strengthen the Congolese army units on the frontlines” against armed groups and the M23.
But that free access to weaponry has come with possibility of clandestine foreign fighters.
Weapons claims
Rwanda has alleged that Kinshasa continues to provide weapons fight alongside illegal armed groups in eastern DRC, including the genocidaire militia, FDLR.
“This also constitutes a clear violation of the Nairobi Process, which is aimed at disarmament and demobilisation of these armed groups, and a threat to Rwanda’s security,” said the statement issued on Thursday by Kigali.
The statement came a few hours after President Tshisekedi told business leaders at the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that Rwanda is “blocking development in the region” and that M23 rebels have not withdrawn from recently seized positions despite international pressure.
“They pretend to move, they act like they are moving, but they’re not. They’re simply moving around, redeploying elsewhere, and they stay in the towns that they have captured,” Tshisekedi said in a panel session.
Beyond military
Kigali alleges the staged demonstrations against the EAC Regional Force in Goma and other parts of the DRC constitute part of a plan by the DRC military and government to exit the Nairobi and Luanda peace processes.
It added that demonstrations appear aimed at causing the departure of the force, whereas the Luanda Communiqué calls for “continued full deployment of the EAC Regional Force”.
But pulling the EACRF into combat could have ramifications.
One risk is losing the goodwill to pursue diplomacy. But there is also a risk of losing public support if the force looks just as lethargic as the UN stabilisation mission, Monusco, which faced violent protests last year over alleged inaction.
Non-combative efforts
Meanwhile, non-combative efforts to end the conflict are set to continue.
EAC Lead Facilitator for the Nairobi Process, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, confirmed that the Nairobi 4 Intra-Congolese consultations will kick off next month in some key towns in North Kivu, when the facilitators will interact with affected communities closer on the ground.
They will however, be preceded by a meeting of the Luanda process in Bujumbura or Goma later this month, EAC Secretary-General Peter Mathuki said in Nairobi this week.
On Thursday, the M23 maintained that it withdrew from Kibumba and Rumagambo on December 23, 2022 and January 6, 2023 respectively, adding that it has been ready to hand over other areas as per the resolution of the Mini-Summit of Luanda.
The group accused Kinshasa of not honouring its part of the communiqué, including the disarmament of local and foreign armed groups.
“We are observing on all frontlines including Kitchanga and its surroundings, the buildup of DRC Government coalition forces (FDLR, Nyatura, APCLS, Codeco, Pareco, Mai-Mai and others) alongside European mercenaries,” the group said in a statement in which they further threatened not to sit and watch the slaughtering of innocent populations.
This week, the ADF terror group that is affiliated with the Islamic State revived its assault with an IED attack at the Community of Pentecostal Churches in Central Africa (CAPAC) in Kasindi that claimed 17 lives and left scores injured on Sunday.
Abdirizak Muktar Garad, a Kenyan from Wajir County who went into hiding after stealing of Ksh11 million from a safe in a building in the Eastleigh area of Nairobi mid last year, was arrested in Kasindi and taken to Kinshasa for questioning after the Congolese authorities linked him to the IED attack.
Two days later, the same terror group attacked and burned six oil tankers belonging to Somali businessmen at Tolitoli in Ituri Province. They are believed to have kidnapped some workers and stolen a vehicle from the area.
Source: www.theeastafrican.co.ke
European mercenary question in the DR Congo conflict
Author: The EastAfricanEast African Community force soldiers drive in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on December 2, 2022. The simmering conflict in eastern DRC has roped in Russia and other Eastern European countries now accused of aiding Kinshasa with mercenaries.
The simmering conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has roped in Russia and other Eastern European countries now accused of aiding Kinshasa with mercenaries.
Rwanda, a neighbour Kinshasa considers belligerent and roundly accused of supporting the M23 rebels in their fight against the Felix Tshisekedi government, has accused the Congolese government of preparing for war instead of de-escalating tensions in line with the various peace initiatives underway.
Kigali has always denied any involvement with the rebels.
On Thursday, the Paul Kagame administration released a terse statement, alleging that Kinshasa had imported mercenaries to aid its war against the M23.
Presence of mercenaries
M23, in a separate statement the same day, reiterated the presence of mercenaries courtesy of the government.
By press time, Kinshasa had not responded to these claims.
Diplomatic tensions between the two East African Community (EAC) partner states heated up and relations went a notch low, with Kigali accusing its neighbour of undermining ongoing regional efforts to bring stability to the eastern part of the country.
If it is established that the Russian mercenary company, Wagner Group, has set up camp in the DR Congo, it could complicate the conflict, which regional blocs — the EAC and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) — are trying to resolve.
It also provides Kigali with ammunition to counter accusations by Kinshasa of supporting the rebels. Congo has been demanding the exit of all foreign armed groups from its eastern region.
Kigali is now saying, “Look who’s harbouring foreign fighters!”
Rwanda accusations
On Thursday, the Rwanda government statement said: “The recruitment of foreign mercenaries by the DRC is a clear indication that the DRC is preparing for war, and not peace. Of particular concern to Rwanda is the complete disregard of the Luanda decision to ‘consider and resolve the issue of the return of refugees to their countries of origin.’ Rwanda continues to bear the burden of hosting over 75,000 Congolese refugees, with more arriving daily due to continued insecurity and persecution in eastern DRC. The DRC government has not acknowledged the situation of these refugees and made no effort to facilitate their safe return to their homes in the DRC.”
President Kagame first spoke publicly about the presence of mercenaries in the Congo on January 9, 2023, during the swearing-in of the new president of the Rwanda Senate.
‘Situation is a mess’
“When you hear a situation is relying on mercenaries, you know that situation is a mess. If it comes to us dealing with the mercenaries, we are overstocked to deal with mercenaries. Mercenaries are the most useless people you can rely on,” Kagame told the Upper House of Parliament in Kigali, adding that bringing in mercenaries would deteriorate the situation.
“It gets worse, not better,” he warned.
Asked by the Financial Times in October last year about the presence of mercenaries in Congo, President Tshisekedi dismissed the allegations saying, “I know it’s fashionable now… No, we don’t have to use mercenaries.”
Investigation
German publication Taz was the first to report that its independent investigation with multiple sources in DRC — including local journalists, M23 rebels and the general Congolese public — confirmed the presence of European fighters, whom many refer to as Russians.
Confirmed arrival
According to Taz, an employee of Congo’s immigration department at the airport in Goma confirmed their arrival.
“When the white military arrived on December 22, he stamped passports from Romania in a Boeing 737 chartered by the Romanian airline, Hello Jets. A photo posted online January 2 gives more concrete clues. A white elderly man with cropped hair, dressed in civilian clothes but holding an AK-47 assault rifle, stands between two Congolese soldiers on road north of Goma. This man is a seasoned mercenary from Romania: Horatiu Potra,” the publication wrote.
German public broadcaster DW this week reported the presence of “white military personnel from Eastern Europe” in Mbiza Hotel, Goma, quoting security sources who traced their presence to Christmas.
“There are dozens, maybe even a hundred white men in uniform,” a local journalist told DW. “They wear a variety of uniforms with no national flags, and pistols on belts.”
Presidential guard
The journalist added that soldiers of the Congolese presidential guard closely guarded the Mbiza Hotel entrance. They told him foreigners had booked all the rooms for an extended period.
“It is now the headquarters of the whites,” reported DW, quoting a soldier at the entrance.
Diplomatic circles have been speculating for weeks on the coincidence of the presence of armed Eastern Europeans in Goma amid a new round of fighting in eastern DRC.
Then there have been photos circulating on Twitter showing the corpse of a white man in camouflage uniform lying in dirt.
“This is what happens to the Russians of Wagner,” someone commented.
Taz said the M23 leadership confirmed that the white man was killed in the village of Karenga on December 30, 2022.
Technical support
When the rumours of mercenaries first emerged earlier this month, Kinshasa refuted them. It did, however, suggest that it is free to engage foreign technical support, especially after buying military hardware from Europe.
“It is said today that the DRC is hiring mercenaries. The President had answered this question very clearly. He said that we are not going to resort to a militia to solve a militia problem,” said Patrick Muyaya, the Congolese minister for Information and government spokesman.
“But the DRC, as a sovereign state, is entitled to organise its defence. When we have Sukhoi planes, but there are technical personnel who must maintain them, and if we don’t have the manpower what do we do?
“When the country [DRC] needs to train its military, we need instructors and we have skills, particularly from the French legion. Should we deprive ourselves of the means to train our military to defend the integrity of our territory? All this is part of a bad campaign because they want to avoid international attention on the responsibility of Rwanda through the M23 in the aggression of the DRC, in the massacre of Kishishe,” he said, referring to a recent spate of killings cited in a UN Panel of Experts report.
Since last year, members of the Bulgarian private army Agemira have appeared in DR Congo and were once praised by local officials for repairing old combat helicopters in under two months, according to the DW. They also demonstrated the firepower of a Sukhoi fighter jet to one minister in Kinshasa.
UN report
The information about the presence of mercenaries is also detailed in a UN report, which cited Romanians, Bulgarians, Georgians and Belarussians – Europeans who traditionally have close ties with Russia -- among those spotted in the DR Congo.
The Wagner Group, a private military company begun by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former aide of Russian President Vladmir Putin nicknamed “Putin’s Chef,” has been cited across Africa, operating in conflict areas including Mali, the Central Africa Republic, Sudan and briefly in Mozambique.
Their operations have been controversial. In Mali they have been praised for fighting insurgents but are accused of violations, too. The US has since 2021 sanctioned its leaders, including Yevgeny. But the company still operates across key conflicts, providing deniability for Moscow.
Nonetheless, the DRC may be profiting from its recent freedom to engage foreign military support without seeking permission from the UN Security Council’s sanctions committee.
Arms sales
On December 20, 2022, the Council lifted the requirement for notification and countries are no longer required to inform the UN about arms sales or military support for the Congolese government. Three weeks later, a Turkish military aircraft touched down in Goma with a “donation” of weapons.
Lt-Gen Constant Ndima, the military governor of North Kivu, who received the equipment on behalf of President Tshisekedi, said the Turkish donation “will strengthen the Congolese army units on the frontlines” against armed groups and the M23.
But that free access to weaponry has come with possibility of clandestine foreign fighters.
Weapons claims
Rwanda has alleged that Kinshasa continues to provide weapons fight alongside illegal armed groups in eastern DRC, including the genocidaire militia, FDLR.
“This also constitutes a clear violation of the Nairobi Process, which is aimed at disarmament and demobilisation of these armed groups, and a threat to Rwanda’s security,” said the statement issued on Thursday by Kigali.
The statement came a few hours after President Tshisekedi told business leaders at the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that Rwanda is “blocking development in the region” and that M23 rebels have not withdrawn from recently seized positions despite international pressure.
“They pretend to move, they act like they are moving, but they’re not. They’re simply moving around, redeploying elsewhere, and they stay in the towns that they have captured,” Tshisekedi said in a panel session.
Beyond military
Kigali alleges the staged demonstrations against the EAC Regional Force in Goma and other parts of the DRC constitute part of a plan by the DRC military and government to exit the Nairobi and Luanda peace processes.
It added that demonstrations appear aimed at causing the departure of the force, whereas the Luanda Communiqué calls for “continued full deployment of the EAC Regional Force”.
But pulling the EACRF into combat could have ramifications.
One risk is losing the goodwill to pursue diplomacy. But there is also a risk of losing public support if the force looks just as lethargic as the UN stabilisation mission, Monusco, which faced violent protests last year over alleged inaction.
Non-combative efforts
Meanwhile, non-combative efforts to end the conflict are set to continue.
EAC Lead Facilitator for the Nairobi Process, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, confirmed that the Nairobi 4 Intra-Congolese consultations will kick off next month in some key towns in North Kivu, when the facilitators will interact with affected communities closer on the ground.
They will however, be preceded by a meeting of the Luanda process in Bujumbura or Goma later this month, EAC Secretary-General Peter Mathuki said in Nairobi this week.
On Thursday, the M23 maintained that it withdrew from Kibumba and Rumagambo on December 23, 2022 and January 6, 2023 respectively, adding that it has been ready to hand over other areas as per the resolution of the Mini-Summit of Luanda.
The group accused Kinshasa of not honouring its part of the communiqué, including the disarmament of local and foreign armed groups.
“We are observing on all frontlines including Kitchanga and its surroundings, the buildup of DRC Government coalition forces (FDLR, Nyatura, APCLS, Codeco, Pareco, Mai-Mai and others) alongside European mercenaries,” the group said in a statement in which they further threatened not to sit and watch the slaughtering of innocent populations.
This week, the ADF terror group that is affiliated with the Islamic State revived its assault with an IED attack at the Community of Pentecostal Churches in Central Africa (CAPAC) in Kasindi that claimed 17 lives and left scores injured on Sunday.
Abdirizak Muktar Garad, a Kenyan from Wajir County who went into hiding after stealing of Ksh11 million from a safe in a building in the Eastleigh area of Nairobi mid last year, was arrested in Kasindi and taken to Kinshasa for questioning after the Congolese authorities linked him to the IED attack.
Two days later, the same terror group attacked and burned six oil tankers belonging to Somali businessmen at Tolitoli in Ituri Province. They are believed to have kidnapped some workers and stolen a vehicle from the area.
Source: www.theeastafrican.co.ke
Yes it could be this the other thing M23
so seem like Dwight folks didn’t want him to
Inspired a resistance movement. His voice was to important and carried weight. The had to silent him and send a message.
Dwight folks were the Belgium and Americans…
This what I got from a little quick run thru I did the other day
Don't forgot Britain's MI-6 was there also to help with Lumumba's assassination.
Peep it:
A member of the House of Lords, Lord Lea, has written to the London Review of Books saying that shortly before she died, fellow peer and former MI6 officer Daphne Park told him Britain had been involved in the death of Patrice Lumumba, the elected leader of the Congo, in 1961.
When he asked her whether MI6 might have had something to do with it, he recalls her saying: "We did. I organised it."
link:
MI6 and the death of Patrice Lumumba
A letter from a member of the British House of Lords has raised fresh questions over Western complicity in the death of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba in 1961, the BBC's Gordon Corera reports.
www.bbc.com
Hundreds of Women Raped, Burned to Death After Prison in Congo Set on Fire: UN Official
The Rwanda-backed group known as M23 is believed to have been responsible for the incident following its takeover of the city of Goma
Photo:
AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa
Published on February 5, 2025 12:19PM EST
Hundreds of women were raped and burned to death after a mass jailbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, following the seizure of a major city by militants.
“There was a major prison breakout of 4,000 escaped prisoners,” Vivian van de Perre, a senior United Nations official, told The Guardianin a story published on Feb. 5. “A few hundred women were also in that prison. They were all raped and then they set fire to the women’s wing. They all died afterwards.”
Further details regarding the jailbreak at Munzenze prison in the city of Goma were not immediately clear. The eastern Congolese city has been seized by the Rwanda-backed militant group M23.
Citing internal UN documents, the BBC reported that women were assaulted by male inmates as they broke out of the jail.
According to the Associated Press, the militant group declared a ceasefire this week while Congo’s government deemed that announcement as “false communication,” citing ongoing violence. The fighting in Goma has claimed the lives of at least 900 people, the U.N. health agency said, per the AP.
The UN said in a press statement on Feb. 4 that thousands of people have been displaced as a result of the violence and called for the reopening of the city’s airport to “facilitate evacuation of injured people, delivery of medical supplies and arrival of humanitarian reinforcements.”
Admittingly, I only knew a fraction of what this guy went over in the video. And as always the white man ain't shit and always the root source of fucked up things in Africa.
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