DR Congo: M23 calls on murderous militia to leave and surrender

The AFC/M23 rebel organization has demanded that all foreign forces and militias present in eastern DR Congo, particularly the murderous militia connected to Rwanda’s 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, surrender and go back to their home nations.

The request was made on Saturday, March 1, at the border checkpoint in Rubavu District, at a ceremony where AFC/M23 turned over 14 FDLR fighters to Rwandan authorities.

The 14 FDLR combatants were all dressed in Congolese military garb.

Senior AFC/M23 official Oscar Balinda stressed in an interview with The New Times that all armed organizations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo should lay down their weapons and go back to their own nations.

“We are calling on them to surrender peacefully, if they have their arms and whatever they have, they have to lay them down, surrender to our army and we facilitate them go back home to their countries,” Balinda added.

We are fighting for our rights because we are Congolese. In order to achieve a peaceful resolution [to the crisis in eastern DR Congo], we are requesting that all foreign forces return to their home countries.

The FDLR is a terrorist organization located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that was founded by the survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi. With the intention of attacking Rwanda, the murderous militia teamed up with Kinshasa’s friends and joined the Congolese army coalition against the AFC/M23 rebel organization.

The greatest threat to Rwanda and the area is the murderous ideology of the homicidal militia.

Additionally, Balinda restated the rebels’ demand that the Burundian government remove its troops from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The alliance of foreign forces stationed in eastern DR Congo, including SAMIDRC and FDLR, was found to have war objectives that went beyond defeating M23 to include attacking Rwanda, Kigali said early this month.

According to a statement from the ministry of foreign affairs, “The fact that SAMIDRC is there to fight the people of that country and effectively bring war to Rwanda renders the argument that they were invited by the Government of the DRC void.”

Recent information from Goma regarding the findings “and the documentary evidence of attack preparations, planned together with the foreign forces fighting” in eastern DR Congo “indicate that combat objectives were not limited to defeating M23, but also attacking Rwanda,” the statement said.