Decades-old tensions between Rwanda, which has one of Africa\u2019s most effective militaries, and Congo, one of the continent\u2019s largest and most troubled countries, have spiked along their shared border a few hours\u2019 drive from Rwanda\u2019s capital, Kigali. Alarm has reached the point where Kenya\u2019s president is urging the immediate deployment of a newly created regional force to eastern Congo to keep the peace.<\/p>\n
Each side has accused the other of incursions. Congo now seeks to suspend all agreements with Rwanda. If Rwanda wants war, \u201cit will have war,\u201d a spokesman for the military governor of Congo\u2019s North Kivu province told thousands of protesters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The M23 launched an offensive against Congo\u2019s military after saying the government had failed to live up to its decade-long promises made under a peace deal to integrate its fighters into Congo\u2019s military. This week the M23 seized a key trading town, Bunagana, sending thousands of people fleeing into neighboring Uganda and elsewhere.<\/p>\n
At that, Congo\u2019s military accused Rwandan forces of \u201cno less than an invasion,\u201d alleging that Rwanda backed the rebels in their capture of Bunagana.<\/p>\n
Congo\u2019s government has long accused Rwanda of supporting the M23, which Rwanda denies. The accusations have surged again in recent weeks. Many of the M23 fighters are ethnic Tutsis, the same as Rwanda\u2019s President Paul Kagame.<\/p>\n
Rwanda, for its part, has accused Congolese forces of injuring several civilians in cross-border shelling.<\/p>\n
WHAT\u2019S THE HISTORY OF TENSIONS?<\/p>\n
Relations between Rwanda and Congo have been fraught for decades. Rwanda alleges that Congo gave refuge to the ethnic Hutus who carried out the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed at least 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. In the late 1990s, Rwanda twice sent its forces deep into Congo, joining forces with Congolese rebel leader Laurent Kabila to depose the country\u2019s longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. The Rwandan forces in Congo were widely accused of hunting down and killing ethnic Hutu, even civilians.<\/p>\n
Millions of Congo\u2019s people died during the years of conflict, according to rights groups, and the effects still run deep today. Many women live with the scars and trauma of rape.<\/p>\n
Eastern Congo continues to see divisions along ethnic lines at times. The region\u2019s history of instability, loose governance and its vast distance \u2014 more than 1,600 miles \u2014 from Congo\u2019s capital, Kinshasa, have dampened investment and left some basic infrastructure such as roads tattered or nonexistent.<\/p>\n
Congo and Rwanda have long accused each other of supporting various rival armed groups in eastern Congo, a restless region and major hub for humanitarian aid. A United Nations peacekeeping force of more than 17,000 personnel is based in Goma, but a top official this week made clear that the tensions with Rwanda and Uganda are not a part of its role.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not the reason why were are here,\u201d said Lt. Col. Frederic Harvey, the U.N. mission\u2019s chief of liaison with the Congolese military. \u201cWe are here to accomplish our mandate, which consists of protecting the civilian population and preserving national integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goma, the region\u2019s key city of more than 1 million people, was briefly seized by M23 fighters a decade ago. Many Goma residents now call on the international community to intervene to help establish peace and stability. \u201cKagame, enough is enough,\u201d read one sign in a protest on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Pope Francis had planned to visit Goma next month as part of a trip to Congo and South Sudan but canceled it last week, citing doctor\u2019s orders because of his knee problems. The visit was meant to draw further global attention to populations long wrestling with conflict, even as this new one develops.<\/p>\n
NOW WHAT?<\/p>\n
With an eye on the growing tensions, the six-nation East African Community \u2014 Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Tanzania \u2014 earlier this year created a regional force meant to respond to trouble. Now Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the current chairman of the bloc, wants the force to be activated immediately and deployed to eastern Congo, noting the \u201copen hostilities\u201d there.<\/p>\n
Kenyatta also calls for the eastern Congo provinces of North and South Kivu and Ituri to be declared a \u201cweapons-free zone\u201d where anyone outside mandated forces can be disarmed. Within hours, his call was \u201cwarmly\u201d welcomed by the president of Burundi, which borders both Rwanda and Congo.<\/p>\n
Regional commanders of the member defense forces will meet on Sunday in Kenya\u2019s capital, Nairobi, at the heart of East Africa\u2019s economic hub.<\/p>\n
The regional force was agreed to by leaders from the countries now seemingly closing in on war \u2014 Congo, the EAC\u2019s newest member, and Rwanda, the largest African troop contributor to U.N. peacekeeping missions worldwide.<\/p>\n
But Rwanda notably was the only EAC member to skip a meeting of the heads of regional armed forces earlier this month in Goma. And there was no immediate response from Rwanda on Thursday to Kenyatta\u2019s call to action.<\/p>\n
Congo, too, didn\u2019t comment directly on the call to deploy the regional force, but government spokesman Patrick Muyaya welcomed the Kenyan president\u2019s request for a cessation of hostilities and weapons-free zones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The threat of war with neighboring Congo is simmering under the tidy surface of Rwanda\u2019s capital as the East African nation hosts the British prime minister and other world leaders next week for the Commonwealth summit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":10073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,15],"tags":[7,26,25],"class_list":{"0":"post-10076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-politics","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics"},"yoast_head":"\n