Rwanda Warns Against Regional Troops in DRC

Rwanda has asked the African Union not to support troops from southern African countries deployed to fight armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), claiming the force will exacerbate the conflict. Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta in a letter to the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, made public Monday, accused the regional force of fighting alongside the DRC army and other coalition armed groups, which include Rwandan rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Last month, fresh fighting erupted between the Congolese army and March 23 Movement (M23) rebels around Goma and Sake in the DRC’s eastern province of North Kivu. DRC accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels, claims Kigali denies. Political analyst, DAVID MONDA, tells VOA’s Douglas Mpuga, Rwanda sees the deployment of SADC forces in Eastern DRC as destabilizing the strategic balance in the region.