Kigali dismissed what he called “false claims” and stressed his “right to defend his territory” after a United Nations report accused the Rwandan army of intervening in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Government spokeswoman Yolanda McCullough said in a statement Thursday night that “Rwanda has a legitimate and sovereign right to defend its territory and its citizens, and not just wait for disaster to occur.”
A report commissioned by experts from the United Nations showed that the Rwandan army had directly invaded the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and supported the armed groups since November 2021.
The report submitted to the UN Security Council states that the Rwandan army carried out “military interventions against the Congolese armed groups and the positions of the Congolese armed forces” from November 2021 to June 2022.
Experts pointed out that Kigali “sent reinforcements of soldiers to the M23 movement for specific operations, especially when its goal was to control strategically important cities and areas.”
M23 is short for the March 23 Movement, a former Tutsi-dominated rebel movement that was defeated in 2013 and took up arms again late last year to demand the implementation of the agreement signed with Kinshasa.
Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the uprising, which Rwanda denies.
Source: AFP.