A raw video footage has emerged on social media platforms reinforcing suggestions that combatants from the genocidal FDLR militia are fighting alongside DR Congo army in its battle against the M23 rebel group in eastern DR Congo.
FDLR is a terrorist group formed and dominated by remnants from groups blamed for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
The footage, which was reportedly shot and originally shared by a Congolese journalist embedded with the Congolese armed forces FARDC, is said to have been taken last week during clashes in an area near Goma, the capital of DR Congo's Northern Kivu Province .
In the video, men in military uniform and civilian attire can be heard speaking predominantly Kinyarwanda, with a few Kiswahili words.
Battle command is being given in Kinyarwanda, a language spoken by many in eastern Congo but which is not known to be officially used there on the battlefield.
Amidst gunfire, two fighters can be heard exchanging in Kiswahili on the walkie-talkie: "Mpaka Kigali;" "Mpaka! Mpaka!" ('Until Kigali').
#Congo #DRC Images des FDLR resister alors que les FARDC avaient deja pris la poudre d'escampete, pourtant c'etait la coalition FARDC-FDLR qui avait attaqué de grand matin... quelque part entre Rugari et Kibumba, maintenant sous contrôle M23@BelgiumMFA @francediplo @StateDept pic.twitter.com/wqTg6qUORH-- Albert Rudatsimburwa (@albcontact) November 21, 2022
At least 10 combatants appear in the video.
Rwanda has for several months now accused the Congolese armed forces FARDC of cooperating with FDLR in the ongoing conflict with the M23 rebels.
The M23 recently claimed they had captured the towns of Kibumba, Ruhunda, Buhumba, Kabuhanga, Tongo, Mulimbi, former strongholds of the FDLR militia.
The M23 says the FARDC has formed a coalition with multiple militias, notably FDLR, Mai-Mai and Nyatura, in the ongoing conflict.
"If the video is confirmed to be of FDLR fighting alongside FARDC, it is another reaffirmation of what Rwanda has been saying all along that the Congo collaborates with FDLR," said Ismael Buchanan, a senior lecturer of international relations at University of Rwanda.
"First, we need to establish the authenticity of the video and identify the people in it," he added.
The new evidence is likely to further complicate efforts at mending ties between Kigali and Kinshasa, which has in recent months been accused of inciting ethnic hatred against Congolese Tutsi communities.
The east of DR Congo is home to over 120 armed groups, who have committed various atrocities, according to the UN.
East African Community member countries have recently resolved to deploy troops in eastern DR Congo to help restore peace. Kenya has already sent in 900 troops and a Ugandan contingent could arrive by the end of November.
But Buchanan said the EAC regional force should establish the facts before joining military operations in the volatile area.
"The EAC mission has intelligence officers who can find out whether the FARDC are working alongside FDLR and what that means. If it is proved to be true, then it has far-reaching implications on the mission and the shape it takes going forward," he said.
Who are the FDLR militia?
The FDLR is a terrorist group based in eastern DR Congo and is accused of repeatedly launching cross-border attacks on Rwanda. It's history is rooted in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, in which over a million people were killed.
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Over the years, splinter groups have emerged from the militia group, including CNRD, FLN, RUD-Urunana, and FPPH-Abajyarugamba.
The FDLR was founded by remnants of Interahamwe militia and the former Rwandan army (FAR), who perpetrated the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
A United Nations report in June this year said the FDLR controls large territories in eastern DR Congo. For years, the report says, the terrorist group controls part of the Virunga National Park, which is shared by Rwanda, DR Congo and Uganda.
In 2015, a German court found two leaders of the FDLR guilty of war crimes committed in DR Congo. One of them, Ignace Murwanashyaka, the group's founding head, died in April 2019.
The other, Straton Musoni, the group's former deputy leader, was deported to Rwanda in October this year after serving his jail sentence in Germany.
