Rwandan troops 'invade DR Congo'

[WembeMkali]

The Democratic Republic of Congo has accused Rwanda of sending troops across the border, and threatening the eastern city of Goma.

The local provincial governor said Rwandan soldiers backing the Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda had crossed the border three days ago.

Rwanda has denied that any of its troops are inside DR Congo.

Rwanda twice invaded its neighbour in the 1990s and has accused the government of backing Rwandan rebels.

'Spoilers'

The Congolese ambassador to the United Nations Atoki Ileka said he would call for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council if Goma was attacked.

"Rwanda is already in the DRC," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

"Rwanda, and I say Mr Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, are the spoilers in the region," he said.

"Laurent Nkunda in our view is some kind of a proxy for Rwanda."

But Rosemary Museminari, Rwanda's state minister for foreign affairs, said her country would have no reason to attack DR Congo.

"We are not amassing, we are not putting any special forces on the border with Congo," she said.

"I think the DRC is trying to divert attention from the real problem.

"The fact is that the Congolese army is finding it difficult in dealing with the rebel forces in their region."

She added that Rwanda had no interest in supporting Gen Nkunda, and simply wanted to secure its own borders against forces in DR Congo who had committed genocide in Rwanda and had been "creating havoc" in the region.

Heavy fighting

Earlier, Gen Nkunda's rebels said they had captured a major army base at the border village of Ramangabo near Goma after a day of intense fighting with government forces.

UN peacekeepers said heavy fighting had occurred around the base, but could not confirm that it had fallen.

Last week, Gen Nkunda said he would take his fight across DR Congo.

Fighting resumed in August between his forces and the army, despite a peace deal signed in January.

More than 100,000 people have fled the clashes, aid workers say.

Until now, Gen Nkunda has always said he was only protecting his Tutsi community from attacks by Rwandan Hutu rebels.

Some of these are accused of carrying out the 1994 genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda.

Source:BBC NEWS | Africa | Rwandan troops 'invade DR Congo'

 

[WembeMkali]

Why African leaders are quite on Kagame's actions? Why they are not doing anything to stop the Congolese genocide committed by Kagame and NKunda troops?
Mr Odinga,Mr.Membe,Botswana's president Ian Khama what happen on this? You all seems to have had tough talk towards Mugabe but cant see what is happening in Eastern Congo?? or Can i say that you all are waiting for the big boss from Washington or Downing street to say something then you take the same side??

 

[Son of Alaska]

my eyes water as i see this once mighty country crumble.right in front of our own eyes this beautifull country is falling apart.MOBUTU,bad as he was,held this country as one.reality check my fellow africans,if mobutu was to arise from his grave,very few of us would be against him presiding over the country again.FOR this country needs a saviour,before its too,too late

 

[Koba]

...huyo kabila na ujanja wake wote wa mjini sijui kwanini hajifunzi makosa ya baba yake,its so simple just give Nkunda na kabila lao security assurance na uwahakikishie nao ni part of Congo then pursue interahamwe,lakini wakiendelea na huu upuuzi wa kiafrica wa kusema you dont belong here or there basi sitashangaa hii vita ikielekea kinshasa......Kagame alimsaidia Kabila kuchukua Congo kwa ajiri ya security ya Rwanda maana interahamwe wote walikimbilia huko na Mobutu was a threat to Rwanda,sasa kufika Kinshasa Kabila na akili yake mbovu kawageuka kina Kagame na kuanza stupid propaganda za watutsi wanataka kuchukua Congo,at the same time kumbuka Congo kuna watutsi asilia wakaanza kuuwawa kwa order za Kabila,sioni tatizo Nkunda na wenzake wakijitetea maana wakicheza watakuwa wiped out!

 

[deny_all]

my eyes water as i see this once mighty country crumble.right in front of our own eyes this beautifull country is falling apart.MOBUTU,bad as he was,held this country as one.reality check my fellow africans,if mobutu was to arise from his grave,very few of us would be against him presiding over the country again.FOR this country needs a saviour,before its too,too late

It may turn into another Sudan where the country will have to be divided into pieces and I think that is what Rwanda wants so that the dissidents will be pushed far from its borders once the eastern side of DRC is being ruled by people of Tutsi origin.

 

[Ladslaus Modest]

Hakuna mkono wa Kagame kwenye vita hivi vya DRCongo. Ni vita vya kiraia nchini mwao ambapo Jererali muasi Laurence Nkunda anatafuta haki. Dogo Joseph Kabila inabidi akae na Nkunda ili waweke mambo sawa, la sivyo atakiona cha mtema kuni.

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

DR Congo President's Call to Arms ​

Joseph Kabila called on citizens to protect the unity of DR Congo​

Congolese President Joseph Kabila has made a televised appeal for people in the east to take up arms against rebel general Laurant Nkunda.

His comments came after Gen Nkunda said he wanted to "liberate" the whole of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Meanwhile, the UN peacekeepers said rebel forces had withdrawn from an army base captured earlier this week.

Gen Nkunda was persuaded to withdraw from Rumangabo base with captured arms and supplies, an spokesman said.

Forces loyal to the general had overrun the base on Tuesday, forcing thousands of people to flee and capturing weapons abandoned by the fleeing government troops.

'Must mobilise'

In his address, President Kabila praised the courage of his troops.

"Over and above any political divide, we must mobilise as one behind our armed forces and our elected representatives to preserve peace and the unity and (territorial) integrity of the country," he said.

Gen Nkunda has said he intends to take his fight across DR Congo.

Fighting resumed in August between his forces and the army, despite a peace deal signed in January.

More than 100,000 people have fled the clashes, aid workers say.

Amid the renewed violence, DR Congo accused Rwanda this week of sending troops across the border to threaten the city of Goma.

Rwanda denied the claim, and a UN spokesman told the BBC they had found no evidence of this, though he conceded that the border was long and difficult to patrol.

Rwanda twice invaded its neighbour in the 1990s and has accused the DR Congo government of backing Rwandan Hutu rebels.

BBC NEWS | Africa | DR Congo president's call to arms

 

[WembeMkali]

Hakuna mkono wa Kagame kwenye vita hivi vya DRCongo. Ni vita vya kiraia nchini mwao ambapo Jererali muasi Laurence Nkunda anatafuta haki. Dogo Joseph Kabila inabidi akae na Nkunda ili waweke mambo sawa, la sivyo atakiona cha mtema kuni.

Hivi unafikiri huyu Nkunda anapata wapi silaha na logistics za kivita???? Wakati silaha na askari wa kitutsi kutoka Rwanda wakivuka mpaka kuja kumsaidia Nkunda,Mbao na madini vinavunwa na muasi huyu kutoka Congo kupelekwa Rwanda na baadaye marekani na ulaya.
So we know all this as to why Kagame is launching a proxy war to the people of Congo.Na pia anayo ndoto ya kuwa siku moja wataimega eastern Congo na kuifanya sehemu ya Rwanda na kuifanya Rwanda kuwa taifa kubwa kwenye maziwa makuu.
Kwa hiyo tumechoshwa na tabia hizi za kitutsi za kutaka kutawala na kuwafanya wengine watwana.Kama wanatawala kimabavu Uganda na Rwanda wasifikiri wataweza kutawala pia nchi nyingine.
Kwa hiyo kwa sasa tumsaidie Kabila kama raisi halali aliyechaguliwa na wananchi wa Congo kuingoza nchi hiyo kwa amani na kuleta stability nchini Congo na siyo kushabikia waasi na magaidi ambao wanaleta maafa makubwa kwa raia wasio kuwa na hatia.

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Hivi unafikiri huyu Nkunda anapata wapi silaha na logistics za kivita???? Wakati silaha na askari wa kitutsi kutoka Rwanda wakivuka mpaka kuja kumsaidia Nkunda,Mbao na madini vinavunwa na muasi huyu kutoka Congo kupelekwa Rwanda na baadaye marekani na ulaya.
So we know all this as to why Kagame is launching a proxy war to the people of Congo.Na pia anayo ndoto ya kuwa siku moja wataimega eastern Congo na kuifanya sehemu ya Rwanda na kuifanya Rwanda kuwa taifa kubwa kwenye maziwa makuu.
Kwa hiyo tumechoshwa na tabia hizi za kitutsi za kutaka kutawala na kuwafanya wengine watwana.Kama wanatawala kimabavu Uganda na Rwanda wasifikiri wataweza kutawala pia nchi nyingine.
Kwa hiyo kwa sasa tumsaidie Kabila kama raisi halali aliyechaguliwa na wananchi wa Congo kuingoza nchi hiyo kwa amani na kuleta stability nchini Congo na siyo kushabikia waasi na magaidi ambao wanaleta maafa makubwa kwa raia wasio kuwa na hatia.

Well said.

 

[WembeMkali]

Congo-Kinshasa: Are Rwanda and DRC setting the stage for war?
Nairobi (Kenya) - Is Rwanda about to invade the Democratic Republic of Congo? That was the big question last week as tension and military activity continued to build up rapidly in eastern Congo.

By The East African (Nairobi) | 10.13.2008

It is clear that relations between Kigali and Kinshasa are worsening by the day, with the two parties trading accusations and the rhetoric between leaders of the neighbouring countries becoming more strident by the day.

Alarm bells were ringing loudly last week when Congo's representative to the United Nations, Ateku Ineka, claimed that DRC authorities had seen concentrations of Rwandan troops gathering at the border. This was promptly denied by President Paul Kagame's envoy to the Great Lakes region, Richard Sezibera, who described the claims by Ateku as "ridiculous."

The developments were taking place against the backdrop of intense military activity by a rejuvenated Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda. On Wednesday, troops loyal to his Congress Nationale pour le Defense de Peuple overran a military camp in Rumangabo, causing heavy damage. Clearly, eastern Congo is on the brink of a major humanitarian catastrophe.

Although Kigali insists it has nothing to do with the escalation of military activity around Goma, it was noteworthy that the country had in the wake of the attack on Rumangabo engaged in a new diplomatic and propaganda offensive whose aim was to give tacit justification to Nkunda's activities during the week.

On Tuesday, Rwanda's Foreign Affairs Minister Rosemary Museminali told a meeting of Kigali-based diplomats of an alliance between DRC forces and remnants of Ex-FAR (the Rwanda army of the late president Juvenal Habyarimana) and Interahamwe militiamen who spearheaded the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Meanwhile, newspapers in Kigali, quoting anonymous sources, gave details of the Rumangabo attack, suggesting that elements within Nkunda's frontline troops and intelligence were indeed in touch with Kigali. Reports claimed that following the attacks, DRC commanders had fled Rumangabo to link up with the Ex-FAR and Interahamwe forces under the command of Lt Col Ndinzimihingo in Rutare.

Reports from Kigali gleefully detailed how Nkunda's forces had vanquished their opponents -- and, more curiously, gave out details of the arms and ammunition Nkunda had acquired from the Rumangabo attacks. According to the reports, hhis forces captured four Katyusha rocket launchers, an assortment of anti-aircraft guns, motor launchers and vehicles.

On the face of it, the details of the air power that Nkunda's forces were being reported to have suddenly acquired did not have much significance. But officials of the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC (Monuc) told The EastAfrican that they interpreted it as a coded message: A tacit warning to them that Nkunda had acquired the capability to fend off even Monuc. Apparently, Monuc soldiers working around Goma have recently been receiving leaflets warning them that Nkunda has the capability of shooting down armoured helicopters.

Although Monuc has not spoken about it openly, sources said the matter had caused much consternation and the leader of the UN forces, Alan Doss, recently visited New York to make the case for superior equipment for his troops.

Whichever way one looks at it, Nkunda's new successes have put him in a situation where he is now able to receive military support from third parties and disguise it as equipment he captured from raids on DRC battalions.

In an interview with The EastAfrican, Francois Grignon, Africa programme director of the International Crisis Group, who has been following the DRC conflict for years, dismissed the fears expressed by Kigali, arguing that Rwanda is not under any threat and that the alliance between the DRC forces and the Rwanda rebels is a marriage of convenience to deal with Nkunda.

Still, observers argue that while Nkunda is capable of maintaining the region he controls, he neither has the will nor the military capability to overturn the government in Kinshasa, as he recently bragged. At best, he is seen as a nuisance, despite claiming that his forces are protecting the province's ethnic Tutsi population from attacks by the Rwandan insurgent armed group, the FDLR.His advantage, though, is that his forces are familiar with the terrain and have emerged victorious whenever attacked by Kinshasa.

Yet, unlike 1999, there has been no cause for rebellion and Nkunda has had a hard time convincing the world that he is actually protecting the Tutsi population in Congo. Experts on Congo like Mr Grignon believe that the regulation of mining in South and North Kivu provinces will be key to stabilising the country. Rebel groups in the DRC have been using the minerals to finance their war activities. Unlike other areas in the Congo where multinational companies are involved, the mining in South and Eastern Kivu is controlled by small operators, who in some cases sell their products to multinational companies.

It is still a matter of conjecture whether the multinational companies are directly financing the rebellion in eastern Congo in order to have unfettered access to the mineral resources. However, the success of Congo's reconstruction hinges on Kivu province, where the root causes of the conflict -- including unequal access to land and unfair sharing of revenues from natural resource exploitation -- persist.


Source: The EastAfrican on the Web

 

[Masanja]

...huyo kabila na ujanja wake wote wa mjini sijui kwanini hajifunzi makosa ya baba yake,its so simple just give Nkunda na kabila lao security assurance na uwahakikishie nao ni part of Congo then pursue interahamwe,lakini wakiendelea na huu upuuzi wa kiafrica wa kusema you dont belong here or there basi sitashangaa hii vita ikielekea kinshasa......Kagame alimsaidia Kabila kuchukua Congo kwa ajiri ya security ya Rwanda maana interahamwe wote walikimbilia huko na Mobutu was a threat to Rwanda,sasa kufika Kinshasa Kabila na akili yake mbovu kawageuka kina Kagame na kuanza stupid propaganda za watutsi wanataka kuchukua Congo,at the same time kumbuka Congo kuna watutsi asilia wakaanza kuuwawa kwa order za Kabila,sioni tatizo Nkunda na wenzake wakijitetea maana wakicheza watakuwa wiped out!

Well said comrade!

Labda kuongezea. DRC is just a sick man of Africa. Ni failed state just like Somalia! Labda tuu kwa sababu Kabila yupo pale..he is just in office..he has no power kabisa. Swala la Nkunda linahitaji mazungumzo na wala siyo ubabe. huwezi kuamua kufukuza watu simply because wana pua ndefu eti ni watusi. Thats the stupidity of Kabila and some other folks who think all tutsis should be eliminated...... Not only Nkunda, even an Idiot can never accept that.

Rwanda has suffered so much. watu walichinjwa kama kuku..no body was there to help! damu ya watu zaidi ya million moja ilimwagwa kwa chuki hizi hizi za kuonewa eti ni watusi. At times ndo maana nawaelewa waisraeli. Watu wanakuwa so emotional wanaangalia upande mmoja.

Hivi kwa akili yenu mnataka WANYAMULENGE waende wapi? watu wameishi CONGO zaidi ya karne na karne...hivi tukianza kuulizana chimbuko letu nani atabakia kwenye nchi yake?

Tuache unazi tuangalie hili swala objectively. I do disagree with Kagame at times, lakini ana haki ya kuhakikisha hawa Interahamwe wanakuwa punished. Even if it means going into Congo (sasa kama police wa dunia-UN & co wameshindwa, what do you expect?) ..EASTERN CONGO NI NO MANS LAND KABISA! HAO PEACE KEEPERS NA WENYEWE WANATAKA PROTECTION YA SERIKALI!


Kagame chapa bakora kama watu wanataka kuja kuleta fujo tena kwenye nchi yako!

 

[JokaKuu]

Masanja,

..more than 2 million Congolese have died bcuz of the war, and invasion by the Rwandese army.

..in dealing with this conflict, the international community should not act in a way that creates an impression that the lives[sp?] of Tustis are more valuable than those of Congolese, and vice versa.

 

[Nkamangi]

It is at times like these that I ask myself whether " Diamonds are cursed" is just a myth......... Is the Congo solution beyond man?

 

[Mbu]

...mnh, while the world was watching Obama, hawa nao...

View attachment 3350​

Rwandan troops hunt rebel Hutus in Congo
Rwandan troops have marched into the Democratic Republic of Congo to hunt down Hutu rebels whose 15-year guerilla war lies at the root of the region's deadly instability.

By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi
Last Updated: 7:13PM GMT 20 Jan 2009

Soldiers pass through a DR Congo government check point on the edge of Goma

The move has been seen as a dangerous gamble that could help solve one of the world's worst conflicts, but risks plunging Central Africa back into a period of intense and bloody violence.

Up to 2,000 Rwandan soldiers, armed with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, swarmed over the border soon after sunrise and immediately began marching north towards the heartland of the rebel Armed Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

source;
Rwandan troops hunt rebel Hutus in Congo - Telegraph