Kigali says two troopers held captive by FDLR rebels, accuses Kinshasa of backing the armed group.
Rwanda on Saturday mentioned two of its troopers had been being held captive by rebels within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Rwandan authorities authorities of backing the group accountable.
It comes after DRC summoned Rwanda’s ambassador and suspended flights from the nation after accusing its neighbour of supporting the M23 insurgent group lively in its jap area.
Rwanda Defence Power (RDF) mentioned two of its troops had been kidnapped on patrol and had been being held in jap DRC by rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) group.
“We name upon authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo that work carefully with these genocidal armed teams to safe the discharge of the RDF troopers,” the RDF mentioned in a press release.
The 2 troopers had been named by the RDF as Corporal Nkundabagenzi Elysee and Non-public Ntwari Gad.
The kidnapping adopted an assault earlier this week alongside the border by Congolese forces and FDLR rebels, the RDF mentioned.
Rwanda had already referred to as for an investigation after accusing Congolese armed forces of firing rockets into its territory.
Preventing between Congolese forces and M23 erupted on a number of fronts this week in North Kivu, a conflict-torn jap province of DRC, which borders Rwanda.
‘Conservative measures’
The United Nations mentioned on Friday the clashes had displaced 72,000 individuals, warning that these on the run confronted violence and the looting of their houses.
DRC mentioned M23 – a primarily Congolese Tutsi group, and simply considered one of greater than 120 armed teams that roam jap DRC – had obtained help from Rwanda.
Kigali has denied involvement.
Kinshasa mentioned late on Friday it will take “conservative measures” towards Rwanda, which included summoning the ambassador and blocking flights from the nationwide provider.
The airline, RwandAir, responded on Saturday by cancelling “with quick impact” all flights to Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Goma.
DRC and Rwanda have had a strained relationship for the reason that mass arrival within the republic of Rwandan Hutus accused of slaughtering Tutsis throughout the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
Kinshasa has usually accused Rwanda of finishing up incursions into its territory and of backing armed teams there.
Relations had begun to thaw after DRC President Felix Tshisekedi took workplace in 2019, however the current resurgence of M23 violence has reignited tensions.