The armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) say they have begun facilitating the surrender of fighters from the rebel group Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), marking a shift in the long-running conflict in the country’s east.
On 10 October 2025, Major General Sylvain Ekenge Bomusa, spokesman for the DRC army, called on FDLR combatants to lay down their arms and surrender either to the DRC authorities or to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the region, MONUSCO. He stressed that if the fighters failed to comply, the Congolese military would destroy the group with full force, as stipulated under the Washington peace agreement.
General Ekenge claimed the FDLR had begun to heed the call. “The FDLR is now obeying the code of the DRC army,” he said. He added that the fighters are operating in areas controlled by the rebel coalition AFC/M23 in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu province, and alleged that it is this coalition which is obstructing the FDLR’s surrender process. “Others are preventing their surrender. Today we ask: Where are the FDLR fighters? They are in areas under AFC/M23 control in Rutshuru,” he said. When asked why the AFC/M23 bloc would stand in the way of disarmament, Ekenge said he did not know but reiterated that the DRC army will continue to mobilise and call on the group to capitulate.
The joint security committee established between Rwanda and the DRC as part of the Washington accord requires both governments to exchange information about the FDLR: its locations, military capacity, and assets. In July 2025, the Rwandan Foreign Minister stated that some FDLR fighters had already been integrated into the DRC’s army or the Wazalendo militia.
The FDLR a mainly ethnic Hutu militia formed by individuals implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide has long remained active in the eastern DRC and is designated by some governments as a terrorist organisation.
The evolving hand-over process marks a potentially significant step in the region’s unstable security environment. Analysts will watch closely whether the surrender of FDLR fighters proceeds smoothly and whether it helps to diminish one source of conflict in the Kivu provinces or instead fuels further violence.
Author: Justinmind Harerimana
