FDLR attack leaves 5 Congolese soldiers dead

KIGALI - Reports yesterday revealed that rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) attacked a security post in eastern DRC, killing five government troops and two police officers on Monday. The attack is said to have taken place in North Kivu province, near the DRC border with Uganda. Three people, including a child were reportedly taken hostage. A Congolese army (FARDC) spokesman in Nord Kivu, Maj. Sylvain Ekenge, was quoted confirming the incident and noting that the attackers had taken refuge in Virunga National Park where the army is pursuing them. Considered a major source of insecurity in the region, FDLR, comprises mainly remnants of ex-FAR and Interahamwe militia – the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The lot fled into eastern DRC after being flushed out of Rwanda in 1994 and has since then wrecked havoc – killing, pillaging, raping, and breaking up families in DRC. Other recent reports indicate that there has been a wave of forced recruitment, including of many children, by the FDLR in the Kivus. The latest UN Group of Experts’ report notes that recent military offensives against the rebels have cut the FDLR’s fighting capacity and in response, the group is increasing forceful recruitment. The group has also been named by the UN as a terrorist organisation. Ends