M23 leader accuses Burundi of supporting FDLR
The AFC/M23 rebel alliance has condemned Burundi for its active collaboration with FDLR —a Kinshasa-backed terrorist group formed by perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda— and of enabling ethnic cleansing while supporting anti-Tutsi extremism in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the region.
During a press conference in Goma on May 25, the president of M23, Bertrand Bisimwa, said, “Burundi is fighting us alongside the Congolese government. Along the border with the DRC, they’re hosting and enabling another enemy—the FDLR.”
“There are many FDLR fighters in that area, where they’re organizing to attack and kill our people [Congolese Tutsi]. That’s where the threats are coming from,” Bisimwa added.
A May 25 statement by AFC/M23 noted that Burundian armed forces, FDNB, are operating in coordination with FARDC, FDLR, local Wazalendo militias, and other foreign forces to carry out genocide against Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese in eastern DRC.
The violence is concentrated in Banyamulenge strongholds across South Kivu Province, including Rugezi, Minembwe, Mikenge, Kundondo, and Rurambo localities.
The rebels said that the attacks have caused numerous deaths, injuries, mass displacements, and widespread destruction of homes and public infrastructure.
“This violence is causing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” the statement said, accusing both the international community and humanitarian organizations of maintaining a “guilty silence.”
These accusations are not isolated. Following the rebels’ withdrawal from Nturo village in North Kivu Province’s Massisi territory in October 2023, the Congolese army coalition launched repeated attacks in the village, burning over 300 homes belonging to Congolese Tutsi and killing numerous innocent civilians.
Survivors reported being persecuted and forced to pay monthly taxes to FDLR fighters and Congolese security forces for cattle and land ownership, with civilians being executed when they could not pay. These atrocities were carried out with the full knowledge —and tacit approval— of Burundian troops in the East African Regional Force (EACRF), who were controlling the area at the time.
A November 2023 statement by Burundi’s army spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Gaspard Baratuza, claimed, “Burundian soldiers were deployed in DRC to combat local and foreign negative forces, including Red-Tabara and FDLR.”
The December 2024 UN Group of Experts report on DRC noted that instead of dismantling FDLR militia, Burundian troops and the Congolese army actively support and use the militia against the rebels who are fighting to stop the massacres targeting Congolese Tutsi.
The UN report details how Burundian forces and FDLR jointly carried out indiscriminate shelling, kidnappings, and targeted assassinations—brutal acts that fueled violence, deepened human suffering, and amounted to serious human rights violations and war crimes.
Burundi’s close alliance with FDLR not only reveals President Evariste Ndayishimiye’s support for his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi’s genocidal campaign against Congolese Tutsi.
The rebels accuse Burundi of opportunistically using its active role in ethnic violence in eastern DRC to seek greater “political and military dominance” in the region. This intervention worsens an already devastating crisis.
