Rwandan Ambassador expelled as DRC blames Rwanda for supporting M23

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Saturday witnessed the expulsion of the Rwandan ambassador, Vincent Karega, in Kinshasa as M23 rebels that authorities accuse Rwanda of backing have been gaining traction in the African nation.

In an announcement by government Spokesperson Patrick Muyaya, after a governmental meeting to assess DR Congo's security situation, the recent move by the M23 led the UN peacekeeping mission to increase its "troop alert level" in the area. 

Muyaya commented that in the past few days, "a massive arrival of elements of the Rwandan element to support the M23 terrorists" against DR Congo's troops had been observed, adding, "This criminal and terrorist adventure" forced thousands of people to be persecuted and to leave behind their homes. 

Headed by President Felix Tshisekedi, the defense council requested that the government hand over 48 hours for the ambassador to depart the country. 

M23 rebel fighters have taken control over the regions of Kiwanja and Rutshuru-centre, according to witness statements to AFP on Saturday, and they were also spotted in Rugari, close to the border with Uganda. 

In Kiwanja, four peacekeepers were injured, according to the UN mission announcement, with civil society representative Jacques Niyonzima stating, "Kiwanja and Rutshuru-centre are in M23 hands,"

He added, "The rebels have held two meetings and told local people to go about their work and those displaced to return to their villages, saying security was now guaranteed."

Civilian casualties were also reported in Kiwanja, "in our area we recorded three deaths, a man, a woman, and her child, killed by shells that landed on houses," said local resident Eric Muhindo.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 13 civilians, including four children, died in the fighting between June 19 and 21 in Rutshuru territory in North Kivu, as hostilities increase. 

This week, the OCHA office in the DRC said around 34,500 people had fled the Rutshuru region.

"Calm has returned. People are moving about and shops are opening," an anonymous hospital official in Rutshuru-center said. 

The UN's MONUSCO mission demanded an immediate stop to the violence as it condemned "the hostile acts of M23," relaying via Twitter that it was providing "air support, intelligence and equipment" and medical assistance.

🚨La #MONUSCO🇺🇳 condamne fermement les actions hostiles du #M23 et leurs répercussions graves sur les populations civiles et l’appelle à cesser immédiatement toute belligérance.

— MONUSCO (@MONUSCO) October 29, 2022

MONUSCO confirmed the setup of an "operations coordination center" alongside the army and was conducting reconnaissance and surveillance flights, although no further details about the alert level were declared. 

The M23 was formed by former members of a Tutsi militia in Congo that was originally supported by Rwanda and Uganda. The rebels were absorbed into the Congolese army as part of a peace agreement reached on March 23, 2009. They mutinied in 2012, claiming that the agreement had not been upheld, and renamed their group the March 23 (M23) Movement.

The M23, one of the armed factions roaming eastern DR Congo, temporarily took Goma before being defeated and pushed out of the nation.

Following its defeat, the M23 negotiated an agreement with Kinshasa that contained measures for its fighters' reintegration into civilian society. However, the group has accused the government of breaching the agreement once more, and combat restarted last year.

Rwanda rejected the allegations of backing the M23 and counter-responded with the claim that the DRC works with a Hutu rebel movement, the Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) involved in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis, which Kinshasa denied. 

However, recent reporting by independent UN experts according to AFP in August revealed that Rwanda directly supported the M23, and a US representative to the United Nations this week claimed Rwandan defense forces provided assistance to them as well.

As a result of that and to ease tensions, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said after a phone call conducted with the leaders that Angola's President Joao Lourenco plans on deploying his Foreign Minister Tete Antonio to the DRC to mediate the conflict as Guterres attempts to discuss matters with both Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

When relations between the DRC and Rwanda were coming on to good terms after Tshisekedi went into office as President in 2019, the escalation of hostilities by the M23 cut that short.