Rwanda “ready to fight” with DR Congo if necessary (Kagamé)

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has said Rwanda is ready to go to war against the Democratic Republic of Congo if necessary. “We are ready to fight,” he declared in an exclusive interview with France 24. “We are not afraid of anything.”

This comes after Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi accused Rwanda of orchestrating genocide in eastern DRC.

In response, Kagame accused Tshisekedi of favoring the return of an “ideology of genocide” in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo targeting Congolese Tutsis.

“What is really happening in eastern Congo should be understood even by the one who runs that country. He seems to have a selective memory of what to call what is happening there,”

“To ignore that and want to call it something else, somewhere else by someone, I think you have to be missing something in your mind.” he said.

Kagame also refused to confirm the presence of Rwandan soldiers in the DRC, stressing the importance of addressing the underlying causes of regional tensions.

The decades-long conflict in eastern Congo has produced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than 100 armed groups fighting in the region, most over land and control of mines containing valuable minerals. .

Some are fighting to try to protect their communities. Many groups are accused of committing massacres, rapes and other human rights violations.

The violence has displaced around 7 million people, including thousands living in temporary camps like the one attacked last month. Many more are beyond the reach of help.