Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo say they have arrested the deputy commander of a rebel group linked to the Rwandan genocide, a huge blow to a militia at the heart of two decades of conflict in the region.
General Leopold Mujyambere, the chief of staff of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), was arrested earlier this week in the eastern city of Goma during a routine police stop, government spokesman Lambert Mende said.
“He was recognised (by) the security services who were there,” Mende told Reuters news agency.
Mujyambere has been transferred to the capital Kinshasa, where the military justice system will decide whether to try him in Congo or extradite him to his native Rwanda, Mende added.
The FDLR includes soldiers and former Hutu militiamen responsible for carrying out Rwanda’s 1994 genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
On Friday, suspected rebels from another group hacked at least nine people to death near the boundary between North Kivu and Ituri provinces, being a reminder of the ongoing violence in Congo’s conflict-torn east.
Congo’s army launched a military offensive against the FDLR in February last year. The government says it has reduced the group to about 100 fighters but independent analysts say the figure is likely closer to 1,500.
