NAIROBI
The M23 rebel group on Friday said Maj. Gen. Peter Chirimwami, governor of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern North Kivu province, was killed on the battlefield.
“The FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) Commander-in-Chief, General Chirimwami is dead. He was killed in Kasengezi while visiting the front lines to have his photo taken,” M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said on X.
The FDLR is part of the coalition of the Congolese armed forces.
In a separate statement, Kanyuka “firmly” reiterated that the group would exercise its “full right to legitimate self-defense” if the UN or the South African Development Community (SADC) supports what it described as “genocidal groups” against the M23. He called on SADC and UN peacekeepers to distance themselves from “the coalition of negative forces.”
Recent clashes between government forces and the M23 have forced thousands of residents to flee Goma, the capital of North Kivu.
The advance is said to be a turning point for the rebels since launching a fresh insurgency into Congo’s mineral-rich east in 2022.
Congo and others accuse neighboring Rwanda of backing the group. Rwanda, however, denies the allegations.
M23 says it is defending the interests of minority Congolese Tutsis, who say they are discriminated for their ethnic links to Rwanda’s Tutsi community.
