The United States Department of Treasury on Tuesday, June 2, announced new sanctions on members of armed groups based in DR Congo.

One of the two designated individuals is Gustave Kubwayo alias 'Colonel' Sirkoof, a senior commander in the Rwandan-sanctioned terrorist militia FDLR. The other is John Imani Nzenze of the AFC/M23 rebel movement.

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The Kinshasa-backed FDLR was formed by remnants of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Over the past quarter century, members of the terrorist group have been sanctioned by Rwanda, US, the United Nations as well as the European Union.

Gustave Kubwayo, aka Col Sirkoof

While the name Gustave Kubwayo might not be familiar to many, the alias "Col Sirkoof" is not unfamiliar for people interested in the evolution and structure of the FDLR, an armed group that commits ethnic violence and is the driver of hate speech against the Tutsi, especially in eastern DR Congo.

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Kubwayo heads the Commando de Recherche et d’Action en Profondeur (CRAP), FDLR&039;s intelligence and special operations unit also known as the Maccabe group.

According to a 2024 report by the UN Group of Experts on DR Congo, Kubwayo took over command of the notorious CRAP after 'Col' Protogene Ruvugayimikore had killed in battle with the M23 rebels between late 2022 and early 2023.

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According to the UN report, Kubwayo is deputised by Guillaume Ngabo, who also uses the alias Bagdad.

"In addition to this unit," the US Treasury said, "Kubwayo led an FDLR operational command structure in North Kivu’s Nyiragongo territory that formed in 2022, after M23 attacks forced FDLR to geographically disperse."

The name FDLR came up in the early 2000s but this was a rebranding after the its precursor, the Armée de libération du Rwanda (ALiR)" had been designated by the US government over attacks that killed US citizens in Uganda.

For over three decades, the militia, which now fights alongside the Congolese government in the war with the AFC/M23 rebels, has posed a security threat to Rwanda and the Great Lakes Region.

Multiple efforts to disarm the genocidal force have failed over the years. In December 2025, Rwanda and DR Congo signed an agreement in Washington DC that would pave way for the neutralisation of the FDLR, but Rwandan officials say Kinshasa lacks political will to implement its commitments as the militia remains integrated into the Congolese government coalition.