A Rwandan Hutu rebel leader was shot dead by the DR Congo troops on Tuesday night, TimesLive news agency reported. The warlord was wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crime charges, a Congolese Army spokesperson confirmed.
Kigali called “good news for peace” the end of life of the Rwandan Hutu warlord Sylvestre Mudacumura. He was a commander of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and with his genocide group, he was destabilising DRC, killing Congolese and Rwandans. The ICC’s list of charges for that military criminal is very long, the man was wanted for charges including rape, torture and pillage.
Sylvestre Mudacumura was killed about 60 kilometres from the capital of the province Goma, in Congolese North Kivu province on Tuesday night, General Leon-Richard Kasonga confirmed on Wednesday.
Both Congo and Rwanda suffered from warlord’s activity over the years
Mudacumura’s death became the good news for neighbouring Rwanda as well. The DRC move proved President Felix Tshisekedi’s commitment to fighting “negative forces” that brings only chaos and instability into the daily life of the local communities.
The FDLR, opposed to the current Rwandan government, has not launched any large-scale offensive in Rwanda since 2001.
“The death of Sylvestre Mudacumura is good news for peace and security in the region,” Rwandan state minister for regional affairs Olivier Nduhungirehe told press.
The FDLR was created by Rwandan Hutu refugees in eastern DRC after the genocide of Tutsis by majority Hutus in Rwanda in 1994. According to the UN, the force numbers between 500 and 600 active fighters.
They are scattered across the mineral-rich eastern Congolese provinces of North and South Kivu as well as in southern Katanga, and the group is regularly accused of committing atrocities against civilians in the zones it controls.
According to General Richard Kasonga, Mudacumura’s death “is a strong signal for other rebels”, so, it is reasonable for “all armed groups to lay down their arms, or face the same fate as Mudacumura.”
