DRC refutes FDLR South Kivu claims

A Congolese Army Spokesman in the volatile East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has denied claims that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), have been retaking territories earlier lost to government troops. Speaking to The New Times on phone Tuesday, Capt. Olivier Hamuli, a Spokesperson of the DRC army, Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC), insisted that the claims were “false.” “We don’t accept those reports, not at all! When hunger strikes some FDLR tend to leave their hideouts and attempt to come out and loot food. But none have really re-taken former positions as such,” Capt. Hamuli noted. The UN radio in DRC – Radio Okapi, recently reported that FDLR elements have been re-occupying positions earlier lost to the Congolese government troops. It was reported that the rebels retook positions in the country’s South Kivu province, especially in four villages — Mirhanda, Kafukiro, Chikundushi and Kahira, in Kabare region — after the Congolese army pulled out of most of these areas. “Their (Radio Okapi) sources are not verified – that did not really happen and after the recent meeting in Matadi, we are organizing to further repulse the rebels,” the Congolese army officer said. Army chiefs from Rwanda, DRC and Burundi recently met in the western Congolese port city of Matadi to evaluate operations against the rebels and, vowed to increase the tempo against the latter. The rebel group is largely composed of the ex-FAR and Interahamwe militia who spearheaded the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Ends

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DRC refutes FDLR South Kivu claims