DAKAR, Senegal
African Union chair Macky Sall on Sunday called for "calm and dialogue" between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda after both sides accused the other of supporting rebel groups operating along their shared border.
Courtesy |
"I am gravely concerned
about the rise in tension between Rwanda and the DRC," tweeted Sall, the
Senegalese president who currently chairs the AU.
Sall appealed to the two
countries "for calm and dialogue for a peaceful resolution of the crisis
with the support of regional mechanisms and the African Union."
On Saturday, Rwanda said
two of its soldiers were being held captive by rebels and accused the DRC
government of backing those responsible.
Kigali called for Congolese
authorities to work for the release of the troops, who were abducted earlier
this week after what it described as an attack along the border by DRC
forces and rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Earlier on Saturday, the
DRC accused Rwanda of backing another rebel group, M23, which last
month resumed its campaign of violence in the volatile eastern Congo.
In retaliation, Kinshasa
suspended flights to the DRC by Rwanda's
flag carrier RwandAir and summoned Kigali's ambassador.
M23 is a primarily
Congolese Tutsi group responsible for a separate uprising a decade
ago.
The militia briefly captured
North Kivu's provincial capital Goma in late 2012, before the army quelled the
rebellion a year later.
Fighting between Congolese
forces and M23 erupted on several fronts this week in North Kivu, which borders
Rwanda.
M23 says the
DRC government has failed to honor a 2009 agreement under which its
fighters were to be incorporated into the army.
Kinshasa said on Saturday that
in response to the surge in violence, it had designated M23 a
terrorist group and would exclude it from peace
talks being held in Kenya with other militia groups active in eastern
DRC.
The United Nations said on
Friday the fresh clashes had displaced
72,000 people, and warned that those on the run faced constant violence and
the looting of their homes.
The DRC and Rwanda have
had a tumultuous relationship since the mass arrival in the republic of
Rwandan Hutus accused of slaughtering Tutsis during the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
Ties had thawed after DRC
President Felix Tshisekedi took office in 2019 and last year, the neighbors
signed three bilateral agreements to further enhance trade and diplomatic
ties.
But Kinshasa has regularly
accused Rwanda of carrying out incursions into its territory, and of backing
armed groups there.
No comments:
Post a Comment