DR Congo says militia linked to Rwanda's genocide agree to surrender

The Congolese government said in an address on national television on Tuesday that a militia operating in the east of the country, linked to Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, has agreed to disarm and demobilise.

Under a surrender protocol, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) also reportedly agreed to return to Rwanda or a third country that would accept them.

They also pledged that those targeted by the courts will be brought to justice. In return, the FDLR have set security conditions for their confinement in a camp far from the combat zone in eastern DRC.

Their disarmament is a key step towards implementing a United States-brokered peace deal between the Congo and neighbouring Rwanda.

The Congo-based FDLR includes remnants of Rwanda's former army and ⁠militias responsible for the 1994 genocide.

Kigali has long demanded that Congo neutralise the armed group as a condition for any lasting peace, accusing Kinshasa of fighting alongside FDLR.

Its perceived danger has been used by Rwanda for years to justify its interventions in the DRC.

Congo, meanwhile, has accused Kigali of backing the M23 rebel movement, which controls large swathes of territory in eastern DRC after a ⁠lightning advance last year.

Rwanda denies supporting the group.

Kigali’s foreign minister has described the protocol as a “non-event” saying it is not part of the Washington Accords.

He said Kinshasa remained obligated to dismantle the militia under the agreed implementation framework.