DRC army returns rebels to Rwanda

The army of the Democratic Republic of Congo has apprehended 291 Rwandan rebels and returned them to the Rwandan army, according to a Congolese spokesman. 

The rebels were captured in the Kalehe region in South Kivu province at the DRC’s eastern border with Rwanda, army spokesman Maj Jean Louis Tshimwang told reporters. Earlier this month, the Congolese army announced that it had captured 1,000 rebels in the same province. 

The captured rebels included members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and National Liberation Front (FLN). Rwandan rebels settled in the DRC after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and most never returned. 

Members of the FDLR settled in the DRC have been accused of recruiting child soldiers, rape and systematic looting. 

Photo credit: The Independent