Rwanda's Covert Involvement in the
Congo Conflict
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Speaker 1 00:03
Quickly, like the soldier. Quickly. Don't joke. Move. Move. Quickly. Quickly. Quickly, like a
soldier.
Speaker 2 00:11
This footage from earlier this year shows a stunning military upset in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. These men are well trained foreign military contractors hired by the
Congolese government. Surrounded by news cameras, they're being rounded up and
kicked out of the country by the rebel group known as M twenty three. Seen here in
uniform, M twenty three claims to be a grassroots rebellion fighting the government to
secure the rights of eastern Congo's Tutsi ethnic minority. In early twenty twenty five,
they shocked the world by capturing eastern Congo's largest cities. But once the
cameras stopped rolling, the real power backing M twenty three's surprise advance Mark
marched in to occupy the area. These are troops from the tiny neighboring country of
Rwanda, identified by intelligence sources who spoke with NBC News. We uncovered
evidence showing that Rwanda has armed, trained and commanded the M twenty three
movement and committed thousands of its own troops to the fight.
Speaker 2 01:20
Their clandestine war has given them control over a territory with some of the world's
richest deposits of rare earth minerals used in cell phones, computer chips and batteries.
It's also killed thousands and displaced millions. Despite accusations from the UN and
Western governments, Rwandan President Paul Kagame has carefully and repeatedly
denied any role in the conflict.
Speaker 1 01:48
This problem was not created by Rwanda and is not Rwanda's problem. It is Congo's
problem. M twenty three are not Rwandans.
Speaker 2 01:58
Does Rwanda currently any troops at all in eastern drc?
Speaker 1 02:03
I don't know.
Speaker 2 02:05
NBC News exclusively obtained three years of confidential intelligence reports and
surveillance footage. They were given to us by military contractors hired to provide
intelligence for Congolese forces. Using additional incident reports from the Rwanda
Defense Forces, or rdf, satellite imagery and interviews with combatants, we were able to
piece together an account of Rwanda's secret war. For the first time, we can see how
Rwanda established field bases on Congolese soil, like this base nearly forty miles across
the border, which was used to arm, train and command M twenty three allies. The leaked
footage also shows how the RDF flooded eastern Congo with heavy weaponry, including
guided mortars, heavy machine guns, missile launchers, and even armored air defense
systems. They established a network of trenches and fortified positions for Rwandan
soldiers to directly engage in the fighting.
Speaker 2 03:17
The contractors we spoke to estimated that Rwanda's deployment in eastern Congo has
grown to more than five thousand troops. A spokesperson for the Rwandan government
declined to respond to our questions, but said Rwanda acts in defense of its borders and
has no territorial ambitions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Along the way, there
have been cracks in Rwanda's Covert war. In may twenty twenty two, Congolese forces
claimed to have captured two Rwandan soldiers on Congolese soil. Rwanda denied this,
claiming the soldiers were kidnapped across the border. But NBC obtained the Rwanda
Defence Force's internal report on the incident, confirming these soldiers were captured
while taking part in an M twenty three attack on a Congolese military barracks. The
report recommends punishment for their commander, who allowed his soldiers to
participate in the attack while wearing Rwandan military patches.
Speaker 2 04:21
To preserve secrecy, Rwanda began to equip M twenty three and their own troops with
the same unidentifiable uniforms and gear, making it nearly impossible to tell them apart.
To prevent the capture and identification of Rwandan weapons systems, they shuttled
them back and forth across the border to Rwanda. Every night, the RDF removed the
bodies of dead Rwandan soldiers from the battlefield, and when they couldn't, they
stripped them of ID and insignia. Despite these measures, the mounting death toll is
becoming increasingly difficult to hide. Using satellite imagery, we counted one by one,
the grave sites in this Rwandan military cemetery. Since twenty twenty one, the
cemetery has grown by more than nine hundred graves. The largest increase occurred
between late twenty twenty three and early twenty twenty four. During this period, the
Congolese military conducted a wave of drone attacks within their own borders.
Speaker 2 05:26
There were so many Rwandan casualties, they nearly lost the war. This strike from
january twenty twenty four took out an RDF base and ammunitions depot near the
Congolese village of Kewanja. The attack killed Rwandan officers who were training M
twenty three recruits. A spokesperson for the government declined to answer our
questions about Rwandan casualties, but said our reporting on their military cemetery
has, quote, no basis in reality. NBC News spoke with a former member of the Rwandan
military who lost friends, mentors, and family members in the conflict. Their funerals, he
told us, were. Were strictly monitored and controlled. Fearing retaliation from the
government, he spoke to NBC on the condition of anonymity. He provided us with
documents and corroborating sources to verify his account to ensure his anonymity,
we're reading from a transcript of his interview.
Speaker 3 06:31
I have a family member. He's my cousin. He called me. He said, the enemy is very
dangerous here. He said, we are very afraid. And he was shaking. You know, the voice
was shaking. He died on december thirty first, twenty twenty four. They bring you to the
cemetery. They show you the coffin, then they bury, then you go home. After that, they
follow up with the families, their conversations. If they're sharing what happened to them,
they're supposed to stay silent.
Speaker 2 06:58
For many Rwandans, grief is more powerful than fear. NBC News found and verified
ninety one examples of Rwandan families who defied authorities by posting funeral
notices of relatives who died in eastern Congo.
Speaker 3 07:14
When someone is dead, sometimes you have nothing left to fear. They have nothing to
lose.
Speaker 2 07:22
Nearly four years of conflict have taken their greatest toll on Congolese civilians. Millions
have been forced to flee their homes to escape the fighting, often over and over again.
And Rwandan attempts to hide their presence is only making matters worse. A leaked
report from january twenty twenty four shows how the RDF and M twenty three
established this small, fortified position, then kicked out the entire nearby village to
maintain secrecy over the course of the war, many of the displaced found shelter in
refugee camps around Goma, the region's largest city. But Goma is now occupied by M
twenty three and Rwandan forces, and many are being displaced yet again. Satellite
images show thousands of tents and temporary structures in one of these camps being
completely dismantled. Western governments have known about Rwanda's involvement
and have said so publicly.
Speaker 2 08:27
But still, Rwanda continues to receive international aid, and that includes military funding
for its UN peacekeeping missions. Now Rwanda is at the table for US Brokered peace
talks, despite never having officially admitted to taking part in the conflict. It will also
allow millions of displaced people to return to their homes to safer communities with new
economic opportunities. The US is promising speedy investment into eastern Congo
supplies of rare earth minerals. It's an attractive offer for President Kagame. Under the
proposed deal, Rwanda would profit from this mineral investment and exit the conflict
without accountability for its secret war.