War Looms As Rwanda Threatens To Strike DRC
By: Alex Masereka
Rwanda says it is ready to launch a surgical strike inside the Democratic Republic of Congo if there is a new cross-border shelling, raising the prospect of another war in the Great Lakes region of Africa.
On Friday, rebels from Congo’s March 23 movement (M23) clashed with Congolese troops, and Rwanda accused the Congolese army, the FARDC, of cross-border shelling and shooting.
General Joseph Nzabamwita, the Rwandan army’s spokesman, said troops across the border had “fired three bombs and small arms fire” at a village in Rubavu district, close to the border towns of Gisenyi in Rwanda and Goma in the DR Congo.
Old news I know but stay with me on this. I am not blogging about a Rwanda / DR Congo war, although that remains a possibility if Kigali decides that batshit crazy is a sensible response, something I wouldn't bet against.
The Congolese army “targeted innocent civilians in Rwanda, and fleeing Congolese refugees,” he said, saying a 58-year-old refugee was wounded.
I have argued in previous posts that I am in no way convinced it was the Congolese Army ( FARDC ) responsible for the shelling and shooting, that observation is based on historical precedent, the last time Rwanda made such an allegation it turned out it was M23 not FARDC doing the shelling, presumably on Kigali's orders. Rwanda appear to be looking for any pretext to invade and if creating one is necessary so be it.
The M23 rebels defected from the FARDC in April 2012 in protest over alleged mistreatment in the army.
The UN and Kinshasa have repeatedly accused Rwanda of helping the rebels in Congo. Rwanda has always denied the charges that it is backing the M23, but Kigali has never publicly condemned the militia, which is strengthening its grip over the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu in the eastern Congo.
This is actually the point of this post. That last paragraph is unbelievable, that it was written by I assume a professional journalist is breathtaking. It is not only bollocks it is infact even worse. I could forgive a journalism student screwing up like that if they came from butt fuck Arizona, but really Uganda ?
M23 have been steadily losing their grip over the Kivus. Note to Alex Masereka, M23 were at the height of their " grip " in November 2012 since then it has been down hill.
" GOMA, Congo -- Rebels widely believed to be backed by Rwanda and Uganda held their positions in this key eastern Congolese city that they seized last week, letting a midnight deadline for their withdrawal expire in the early hours of Tuesday."
That was from this blog last November, this on the other hand is from a few days ago.
" KANYARUCHINYA, 14 October 2013 (IRIN) - The frontline of fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is only 6km away, yet most of the inhabitants of Kanyaruchinya, in North Kivu, have returned home, determined to resume their lives."
I think a journalist might be aware of the geography of the region particularly if they are reporting on the area or if not might take the time to familiarise themselves. When Museveni closed down the Red Pepper earlier this year there was outrage and I myself was appalled by his actions. I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that his decision was probably the right one just his reasoning was wrong.
Rwandan UN Ambassador Eugene-Richard Gasana said Rwanda is ready to act and it will hurt.
Congo’s adventurous neighbor is reportedly planning to launch a military offensive against a country with which it fought two wars in the past two decades.
“If they are not ready to stop this, we will immediately act and it will hurt,” Rwandan UN Ambassador Eugene-Richard Gasana said on Friday after the UN Security Council held talks on the heightened tensions in the volatile region.
Eugene Gasana may well come to regret that statement, being laughed out of diplomatic circles for being a bloody idiot is not unheard of for Rwandan diplomats in fact it would seem to be a regular occurrence, but for a nation that currently holds a seat on the UN Security Council misleading that august body.
“We will do it with laser precision, we know where it is coming from,” said Gasana, whose country is a non-permanent member of the Security Council.
He went on to say that Rwanda had conveyed a tough message to the other 14 Security Council members.
“We are asking them to get along … and to take their fight far from our border. We already warned the government of Kinshasa,” Gasana added.
Rwanda has deployed troops on the Congolese border, the envoy revealed.
What a fool. The world has been aware for some time of Rwandas deployments on the DR Congo / Rwanda border, what the idiot forgot is that the world is well aware of Rwandas behaviour in the eastern DR Congo and should Rwanda do something as stupid as invade they will be held to account. As a diplomat he should know the writing is on the wall, written in 6 foot high letters that spell words like " Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes and acronyms like ICC ".
“If they dare to continue, it will hurt. We don’t need to increase anything. We have sufficient strength and we know how to deal with it.”
I suspect that you have yet to realise the world knows how to deal with you. I would have thought that Rwanda might have understood the message sent a few days ago by the Obama administration. However let me clarify it; Shut The Fuck Up, Stop Fucking Lying.
The M23 rebels and several other armed groups are active in the eastern Congo and are fighting for control of the country’s vast mineral resources, such as gold, the main tin ore cassiterite, and coltan (columbite-tantalite), which is used to make many electronic devices, including cell phones.
Since early May 2012, nearly three million people have fled their homes in the eastern Congo. About 2.5 million have resettled in Congo, but about 500,000 have crossed into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.
Oh and lets not forget the millions who have died and continue to die, Rwanda will be held to account for this.
Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades, such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country that has dragged on since 1998 and left over 5.5 million people dead.
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