Goma – The Democratic Republic of Congo held a ceremony on Friday to commemorate 17 soldiers killed in clashes with M23 rebels as thousands in the capital protested against Rwanda.
Fighting erupted in May between the army and the M23, a primarily Congolese Tutsi group, and last week spread close to eastern DRC’s important commercial hub Goma.
About 72,000 people fled their homes in the space of eight days, according to the United Nations.
But the clashes also tanked relations between the DRC and neighbouring central African country Rwanda. Kinshasa accused Kigali of backing the M23, although Rwanda has denied the charge.
On Friday, the Congolese army held an emotional send-off in Goma for the 17 soldiers, an AFP reporter said.
#DRC Under great emotion of sorrow and pain that the @FARDC_off and the families paid tribute this Friday, June 03, 2022 in #Goma to ten soldiers killed in the clashes with the #M23 including two senior officers in the territory of Rutshuru and Nyiragongo in east of the country. pic.twitter.com/xVDTbN2aDi
— Baraka MUNYAMPFURA Héritier (@HeritierBarak) June 3, 2022
“If the enemy crosses the border, have no mercy,” a military chaplain urged the grieving families and army officers in attendance.
“Stay with the nation and you will be blessed,” he added.
In Kinshasa, thousands of people took to the streets over alleged Rwandan meddling – in a protest that followed several anti-Rwanda demonstrations in the DRC this week.
Protesters shouted slogans and touted a banner bearing an insulting caricature of Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
Relations between the DRC and Rwanda have been strained since Rwandan Hutus accused of slaughtering Tutsis during the 1994 Rwanda genocide arrived in eastern DRC en masse.
M23 rebels capture DRC villages in east, locals say
The relationship began to thaw after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi took office in 2019 but the recent resurgence of M23 violence has reignited regional tensions.
The African Union and UN have both called for calm.
M23 fighters captured Goma in 2012 before the army drove them from the city and crushed their rebellion.
However, the militia took up arms again in late 2021 after accusing the government of failing to respect a 2009 agreement that foresaw incorporating its fighters into the army.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/@YanikTshi
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