Rwanda and Uganda backs M23 rebels in DR Congo

Uganda is backing M23 rebels fighting across its border in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, UN experts say, warning that a rapidly escalating crisis “carried the risk of triggering a wider regional conflict”.

The well-armed M23 is often accused of being a Rwandan proxy force, but the UN experts have put forward evidence to suggest that it also has Uganda’s support.

Uganda has denied the allegations in the UN report that also accuses Rwanda of having up to 4,000 troops in DR Congo fighting alongside the rebels.

In response, Rwanda did not deny the allegation and told the BBC the DR Congo government lacked the political will to resolve the crisis in its mineral-rich east, which has witnessed decades of unrest.

Some 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers are fighting alongside the M23 in east DR Congo, said a UN experts report seen by AFP Monday, which noted that Kigali has “de facto control” of the rebels’ operations.

The North Kivu province has been in the grip of the M23 (March 23 Movement) rebellion since the end of 2021, with the group seizing swathes of territory in the region and installing a parallel regime in areas now under its control.

Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of backing the Tutsi-led M23 rebel group, something Kigali is yet to confirm.

But the report commissioned by the UN Security Council says the Rwandan army’s “de facto control and direction over M23 operations” renders the country “liable for the actions of M23.”

Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) military interventions and operations in the Nyiragongo, Rutshuru, and Masisi territories — all in North Kivu — “were critical to the impressive territorial expansion achieved between January and March 2024,” by the M23, the report stated.

The Rwandan army is supporting M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo, using sophisticated weapons such as surface-to-air missiles. In January last year, Rwanda’s defense force shot at a Democratic Republic of Congo Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack jet with man portable air defence weapon (MANPAD) that allegedly violated its airspace, as tensions between the neighboring countries escalate.

The report’s researchers estimated that at the time of writing the paper in April the number of Rwandan troops were “matching if not surpassing” the number of M23 soldiers, thought to be at around 3,000.

The report contains authenticated photographs, drone footage, video recordings, testimony, and intelligence, which it says confirm the RDF’s systematic border incursions.

The footage and photos show rows of armed men in uniform operating equipment such as artillery, armored vehicles with radar and anti-aircraft missile systems, and trucks to transport troops.

The report also says that children from the age of 12 have been recruited from “almost all refugee camps in Rwanda” to be sent to training camps in the rebel zone under the supervision of Rwandan soldiers and M23 combatants.

“Recruits aged 15 and above were combat-trained and dispatched to the frontlines to fight,” it said.

It added that the recruitment of minors in Rwanda is generally carried out by intelligence officers, “through false promises of remuneration or employment,” and that those “who did not consent were taken forcefully.”

The European Union has also urged Rwanda to “stop supporting the M23″ and urged Kinshasa to “take all measures necessary to protect the civilian population in its territory”.