Rwandans ‘recruited to fight for DRC rebels’
A soldier of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) walks past a truck-mounted machine gun in the bush of Jomba in restive North Kivu province on May 19, 2012. The Congolese army was engaged in an intense firefight with M23 rebels in the hills above the village of Kinyamahura, near Bunagana, on the border with Uganda.
A United Nations report has found that Rwandan citizens were recruited by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Agence France Presse reported.
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According to documents sighted by the BBC, 11 people, including a minor, were recruited into the March 23 rebel movement, M23, which is made up of mutineers from the DRC army.
Hiroute Guebre-Selassie, the head of the UN mission in the DRC, which is known as MONUSCO, told Radio France Internationale the Rwandans had been recruited in the village of Mundede.
It is understood the fighters were recruited in March, and were told they were joining Rwanda's national army. They were reportedly given weapons training before being sent to the DRC.
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Rwanda's Foreign Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, described the allegations as “lies,” saying the UN had not verified the information, and was merely repeating rumors, the All Africa news site reported.
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