Rwanda evacuated its last diplomat from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) even before the DRC authorities announced a severance of relations, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said.
⠀
On Saturday, the DRC announced it was severing diplomatic ties with Rwanda and recalling its diplomats.
⠀
“On Friday we evacuated our last diplomat through Brazzaville, who was regularly threatened by Congolese officials,” the head of Rwandan diplomacy said in a statement. Nduhungirehe stressed that the diplomat left the country before receiving a note verbale from the DRC.
⠀
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo as fighting intensifies in the country.
⠀
On Saturday, radio station RFI reported that over the past few days, M23 rebels, whom the DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting, have captured a number of small towns on the way to the city of Goma, encircling it. According to the radio station, fighting between the DRC Armed Forces and M23 rebels is taking place in the area of the settlements of Sake and Kibumba, 20 kilometers from Goma.
⠀
In July 2022, after the militants of the M23 movement intensified in the eastern part of the DRC, a summit was held in Angola. The DRC accused Rwanda of supporting the rebels; the Rwandan side denied any connection with the group. Both countries accused each other of shelling border areas. At the summit, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame agreed to de-escalate relations between the countries. According to a statement from the Congolese President’s office, the road map provided for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of M23 militants from positions in the DRC. However, the M23 rebels said they did not feel obliged to comply with the road map.
