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The army of the Democratic Republic of Congo has accused Rwanda of dressing up prisoners in military uniforms in an effort to pass them off as newly-captured rebels linked to the Rwandan genocide.<\/p>\n
It comes after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo said they had captured fighters from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) – a militia founded by ethnic Hutus who took part in the 1994 genocide against Rwanda’s Tutsis.<\/p>\n
But the DR Congo military said a video allegedly showing the handover of 20 FDLR rebels at a border crossing was “faked”.<\/p>\n
M23 fighters have been advancing through eastern DR Congo since January, seizing Bukavu and Goma, the biggest city in the region.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The fighting has forced about 500,000 people from their homes, worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.<\/p>\n
In its statement, the Congolese military said the Rwandan video was a “faked incident in poor taste orchestrated with the sole aim of discrediting our army”.<\/p>\n
It said Rwanda had taken old FDLR prisoners and dressed them in new military uniforms to claim they had been newly captured in Goma.<\/p>\n
“This is part of the Rwandan strategy to justify the invasion of parts of the DRC’s territory,” it added.<\/p>\n
Rwanda has used the presence of FDLR forces in eastern Congo to justify its support for the M23.<\/p>\n
The country previously denied backing the M23, but it has also stressed that due to the FDLR presence in eastern Congo it has a right to take military action in eastern Congo.<\/p>\n
UN experts have previously estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan troops are in eastern Congo.<\/p>\n
UN experts also reported last year that the Congolese military had been using several armed groups, including the FDLR, as proxies in the fight against the M23.<\/p>\n
The genocide in Rwanda took place over 100 days in 1994.<\/p>\n
The ethnic Hutu militia involved in killing up to 800,000 people – the vast majority from the Tutsi community – fled to what is now DR Congo, some forming the FDLR.<\/p>\n
Kagame, who headed the rebel Tutsi force that ended the killing more than three decades ago, sees this “genocidal militia” as an existential threat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
On Thursday, gunfire and explosions ripped through a rally<\/a> held by rebel leaders in Bukavu, the second-biggest city in the east. Videos showed chaotic scenes with bodies on the streets after the crowd fled.<\/p>\n