Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Olivier Nduhungirehe, has responded to Congolese Prime Minister Judith Suminwa, who accused Rwanda of involvement in Thursday’s attack in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu Province. ALSO READ: DR Congo crisis: Death toll from Bukavu terror attack rises to 13, says M23 Explosions killed 13 people were killed and 75 wounded at a rally called by the AFC/M23 rebels, who have controlled Bukavu for over two weeks after chasing government forces. The leader of the AFC/M23 movement, Corneille Nangaa, who addressed tens of thousands of residents at the rally, said Kinshasa was behind the attack. In a post on X, the Congolese Prime Minister said the Rwandan army was involved in the attack. Responding to the accusation, on Wednesday, February 28, Nduhungirehe questioned the Congolese government’s “sudden” interest in the recent attack and ignorance of acts of terrorist militias in eastern DR Congo. How can a Prime Minister—who never condemns the egregious crimes committed by CODECO and ADF in Ituri, who never denounces the FDLR and Wazalendo for their daily persecution of Congolese Tutsi in North Kivu, and who condones the current ethnic cleansing of Banyamulenge in South Kivu—suddenly wake up to shed crocodile tears over a terrorist attack committed at a rally organized by the AFC/M23 in Bukavu? he said. ALSO READ: DR Congo must cut ties with FDLR, abandon plan to attack Rwanda – RPF leader ALSO READ: What is the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) rebellion all about? The AFC said the explosives used belonged to the Burundian army, which has over 10,000 troops fighting alongside the Congolese government’s forces. The Congolese army coalition also includes the FDLR, a militia founded by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, along with European mercenaries, South Africa-led SADC forces, and local armed groups known as Wazalendo.
