{"id":119516,"date":"2026-02-10T14:23:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war"},"modified":"2026-02-10T15:33:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T15:33:57","slug":"end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war","title":{"rendered":"End Misplaced Blame: AFC\/M23 Is DR Congo’s War"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>On February 6, Congolese President Fe\u0301lix Antoine Tshisekedi honored Angolan journalist Hariana Vera\u0301s with a Bible, presented by Ambassador Antoine Ghonda in Washington. Vera\u0301s is known for her biased questions to US officials, through which she consistently pushes for sanctions against Rwanda.<\/p>\n

Honouring a journalist who has spent her time spreading misinformation about eastern DR Congo with a sacred text that condemns deceit is at odds with the Bible\u2019s core teachings. Prior to receiving the award, she was a special guest of Guillaume Ngefa, DR Congo\u2019s minister of justice, who thanked her for serving the \u201cinterest of the Congolese nation.\u201d Those familiar with Congolese politics know the unspoken meaning of this phrase regarding the eastern DR Congo conflict.<\/p>\n

This recognition follows her interview with U.S. Congressman Chris Smith, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa. Whether it qualifies as an interview or simply as a platform for propagating Kinshasa\u2019s narrative is debatable. Smith said he would urge the Trump administration to impose targeted sanctions against Rwandan leadership over alleged non-compliance with the Washington Accords. This comes from a Congressman who claimed that FDLR\u2014a genocidal force of 10,000 fighters\u2014is present in AFC\/M23-controlled areas, and therefore the Congolese government bears no responsibility for neutralizing them.<\/p>\n

In July 2022, State Department spokesman Edward Ned Price alleged, \u201cRwanda is at the root of the security concerns in the region,\u201d following Senator Robert Menendez\u2019s proposal to cut US aid to Rwanda, claiming that the funds could support M23.<\/p>\n

After M23 gained dominance in eastern DR Congo, the US Senate labelled the Congolese crisis a Rwandan problem, alleging that Rwanda supports the rebel group\u2014a misleading narrative quickly adopted by the international community. Some Rwandan officials have faced US sanctions. In short, the US Senate consistently framed the DR Congo crisis as Rwanda\u2019s responsibility.<\/p>\n

Dear Congressman Smith, imagine Rwanda as the 51st state of the United States, alongside Alaska and Hawaii. Suppose this 51st state is under attack by an armed genocidal group called FDLR, which committed genocide and fled to a neighbouring country \u2013 DR Congo, and has continued to launch attacks on Rwandan territory. The genocidal militia killed thousands of innocent people, particularly genocide survivors and those accused of ties to the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), between 1997 and 2000. They massacred students at Nyange School on March 18, 1997, ambushed a BRALIRWA bus in Nyamyumba on January 19, 1998, killing passengers, and attacked the villages of Gisura and Ruhara, on July 15, 2012, as well as Kinigi on December 2, 2012.<\/p>\n

Today, FDLR is integrated into the Congolese army\u2019s operational structure, aiming to overthrow the government in Kigali. They are supported by the Congolese president who has openly vowed to remove President Paul Kagame from power. Just before AFC\/M23 seized Goma, Kinshasa\u2019s allies including FDLR, Burundian forces, SADC troops, and European mercenaries were preparing to defeat AFC\/M23 and then invade Rwanda to fulfill Tshisekedi\u2019s goal: remove the RPF from power and allow FDLR to complete the genocide they began three decades ago.<\/p>\n

Dear Congressman Smith, if Rwanda were the 51st state of the United States, would you ask Rwanda to remove its defensive measures? I highly doubt it. You would call for a special session to ensure US support in neutralizing the FDLR threat. You would ask the American people to condemn FDLR, which, despite its genocidal history, remains allied with Tshisekedi.<\/p>\n

You would stop imposing the eastern DR Congo conflict on President Paul Kagame and the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and focus on the greatest threat to peace in the Great Lakes region: FDLR and its genocidal ideology. Ending the FDLR threat means peace for DR Congo, peace for Rwanda, and peace for the entire region.<\/p>\n

Source: The New Times<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. On February 6, Congolese President Fe\u0301lix Antoine Tshisekedi honored Angolan journalist Hariana Vera\u0301s with a Bible, presented by Ambassador Antoine Ghonda in Washington. Vera\u0301s is known for her biased questions to US officials, through which she consistently pushes for sanctions against Rwanda. Honouring a journalist who has spent her time spreading misinformation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":119515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,761],"tags":[9337,9339,7841,3520,9340,3642,7547,1471,758,9338],"class_list":["post-119516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-afc-m23-rebellion","tag-congressman-chris-smith","tag-eastern-dr-congo","tag-fdlr","tag-fdlr-genocide-ideology","tag-felix-tshisekedi","tag-great-lakes-region","tag-paul-kagame","tag-rwanda","tag-rwanda-defence-force-rdf"],"yoast_head":"\nEnd Misplaced Blame: AFC\/M23 Is DR Congo's War - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On February 6, Congolese President Fe\u0301lix Antoine Tshisekedi honored Angolan journalist Hariana Vera\u0301s with a Bible, pre ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"End Misplaced Blame: AFC\/M23 Is DR Congo's War\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On February 6, Congolese President Fe\u0301lix Antoine Tshisekedi honored Angolan journalist Hariana Vera\u0301s with a Bible, pre ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-10T14:23:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-10T15:33:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770725002.049271.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"656\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"End Misplaced Blame: AFC\/M23 Is DR Congo’s War\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-10T14:23:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-10T15:33:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war\"},\"wordCount\":644,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/sm_1770725002.049271.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"AFC\/M23 rebellion\",\"Congressman Chris Smith\",\"eastern DR Congo\",\"fdlr\",\"FDLR genocide ideology\",\"FELIX TSHISEKEDI\",\"Great Lakes Region\",\"Paul Kagame\",\"Rwanda\",\"Rwanda Defence Force (RDF)\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/end-misplaced-blame-afc-m23-is-dr-congos-war\",\"name\":\"End Misplaced Blame: AFC\/M23 Is DR Congo's War - 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