M23 and FARDC rebels told to disarm or face the EAC forces wrath

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya’s former president Uhuru Kenyatta, the East African Community (EAC) facilitator in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and his counterpart President Felix Tshisekedi have revealed that both M23, FARDC, and other foreign armed groups operating in the eastern part of the country must disarm and surrender to the government or face the full wrath of EAC forces.

Kenyatta arrived in Kinshasa last week on a mission to help find a lasting solution to the ongoing conflict between government forces FARDC and the M23 rebels.

According to the EAC communique sent to media houses two days after Tshisekedi and Kenyatta’s meeting, the two leaders urged all foreign armed groups to disarm or be forcefully ejected.

The two leaders reaffirmed the commitment to ensuring that foreign armed groups that do not voluntarily surrender and return to their countries of origin are forcefully removed from the territory of the DRC.

United Nations research reveals that the eastern part of DRC has been the sanctuary of over 120 local and foreign armed groups, who are responsible for atrocities and terrorists over the last two decades.

Some of the most notable foreign armed groups include the FDLR from Rwanda, RED-Tabara from Burundi, and ADF from Uganda.
The FDLR was formed by remnants of Interahamwe militia, FAR, and other groups linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and it has been accused of carrying out cross-border attacks and shelling Rwandan territory.

FAR militia further splinted into groups including CNRD, FLN, RUD-Urunana, and FPPH-Abajyarugamba.

DRC became the 7th member of EAC earlier this year and Tshisekedi’s request was for the bloc to contribute regional forces to tackle the insecurity in the eastern part of his country.

A recent UN of Experts report indicated that the FDLR was also controlling large swathes of DR Congo’s Virunga National Park – part of a regional mountain range shared between Rwanda, Uganda, and the Congo – and that it was recently involved in mass recruitment.

GAROWE ONLINE