FDLR Second Attack Map
FDLR First Attack Map
“Since M23 took control of the area along the border with Rwanda in Rutshuru territory, FDLR concentrated its troops adjacent to M23-controlled areas and carried out three attacks on Rwandan soil in late 2012 and mid-2013. FDLR officers told the Group that the objective of these attacks was to show the FDLR was not a dying force. The same sources stated that the incursions into Rwanda have boosted the morale of FDLR troops, and encouraged their leaders to plan other attacks,” UN Group of Experts said in a report written on June 20, 2013 leaked and of which AfroAmerica Network has received a copy.
The report, that focused mostly on the Congolese M23 rebels, has described in details the attacks by Rwandan rebels inside Rwanda. AfroAmerica Network was the first news medium to report on the first attack (see our article: Rwandan Rebels Attack RDF in Mutura; UN Expresses Intention to Sanction Rwandan Leaders of November 27, 2012). During the first attack, the Rwandan rebels killed tens of Rwandan Defense Forces troops and seized a large quantity of weapons. The rebels had then vowed to continue attacks ( see our article Rwandan Rebels Vow to Continue Attacking Rwandan Defense Forces of November 30, 2012). Hence, the two subsequent attacks described in the UN Group of Experts’ report are not surprising.
What is surprising is the divergence in the numbers of killed on both sides. According to the report: “Rwandan officials told the Group that the RDF killed 30 FDLR soldiers and captured one FDLR soldier during the November and December attacks.”
Yet the Rwandan rebels and independent witnesses affirm that it is the other way. Also, following the first attack, the Rwandan Defense Forces affirmed to have only killed 6 rebels. No rebel was killed in the subsequent attacks. Furthermore, the Rwandan Defense Forces managed to show to the UN Group of Experts only two identity cards and a certificate of training attributed to Rwandan rebels. What happened to the ids of the other 37 killed or their bodies?
Regardless of the accuracy, the Rwandan rebels have vowed to continue attacks. According to the report, ”on 24 May 2013, when most of M23’s troops were engaged in a failed offensive near Goma, FDLR infiltrated again into Rwanda through Gasizi to launch another attack.”
Sources in Kinigi have also informed AfroAmerica Network that between June 23-24, 2013, a fourth attack by Rwandan rebels on Rwandan Defense Forces killed three Rwandan soldiers deployed near the Virunga Park.
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