Eight fighters from the FDLR genocidal militia’s commando unit known as CRAP and six civilian dependants who supported the group’s operations, were on Friday, January 23, received at Mutobo Demobilisation Centre, in Musanze District, an official has confirmed. ALSO READ: Rwanda's defensive measures to remain 'until FDLR threat is gone' Their reception was confirmed by Jean-Marie Vianney Gatabazi, a Commissioner at Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (RDRC), in a post on X. “We received 14 Rwandans, including eight soldiers from CRAP which is led by Lt Col Guillaume of FDLR, one from Nyatura, and six civilians, including pastors who assist the FDLR in military activities and propaganda,” Gatabazi said. ALSO READ: Inside FDLR’s frontline base 3km from Rwanda border CRAP is a commando and intelligence gathering unit operating under FDLR’s armed wing, FOCA, that has always been tasked with terrorist attacks and cross-border operations inside Rwanda, killing civilians and destroying property. Kuri uyu mugoroba i Mutobo @demobrwanda twakiriye abanyarwanda 14 barimo abasilikari 8 bari muri #CRAP bayoborwaga na Lt Col Guillaume wa #FDLR , 1 wo muri #Nyatura n'abasivili 6 barimo Pastors bafasha FDLR mu bikorwa bya Gisirikari n'ubukangurambaga basanze bagenzi babo bahageze... https://t.co/XnYnXh76yw pic.twitter.com/DUc4lL7h1K — Gatabazi Jean Marie Vianney (@gatjmv) January 23, 2026 Gatabazi said that the group joined 19 others who had arrived at the center a day earlier, 13 of whom are former FDLR combatants, and six are family members. ALSO READ: Neutralising FDLR absolutely essential, US official tells DR Congo According to Gatabazi, the previous group was received on January 20. FDLR, a Kinshasa-backed terrorist group formed in mid-2000 by remnants of the former Rwandan government forces and militia that committed the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, was formed in mid-2000 in Lubumbashi, DR Congo’s second-largest city located in the country's southeast along the border with Zambia. The genocidal militia has, for over two decades enjoyed Kinshasa’s support as it launched cross-border attacks against Rwanda, while also annihilating Congolese Tutsi communities in DR Congo. ALSO READ: Former FDLR deputy president on how genocidal militia was formed For years, Rwanda has called for the disarmament of the genocidal militia, which currently fights alongside the Congolese army in the war against the AFC/M23 rebel movement.
