Three American citizens who had been sentenced to death over a failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo were sent back to the United States on Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman for the Congolese presidency. The American men were among 37 people sentenced to death seven months ago for participating in a May…
The leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have called for a cease-fire in eastern Congo in a bid to end the latest deadly chapter in a three-decade conflict. Presidents Félix Tshisekedi of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda committed to an “immediate and unconditional cease-fire,” according to a joint statement issued with…
Rwanda severed diplomatic ties on Monday with its former colonial ruler, Belgium, which has been pushing to penalize Rwanda over its invasion of the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda’s Foreign Ministry gave Belgian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country. The diplomatic escalation came as the European Union, at the urging of Belgium, on…
Its soldiers are underpaid and underarmed. Its ranks are riddled with factions pursuing their own interests. And successive presidents are said to have kept it weak for fear of a coup. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army has appeared too weak and dysfunctional to stop a militia that has swept through the eastern part of…
In his first interview since an armed group backed by Rwanda seized swaths of his country’s territory this year, Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, offered the United States and Europe a stake in his country’s vast mineral wealth, a sector currently dominated by China. Congo is considered to be among…
On one side of the lake, lovers glide on canoes, friends ride jet-skis and families pose for pictures in the hazy sunset. On the other side, less than two miles away, dead bodies washed ashore while ammunition and discarded weapons littered the water. The shore of Lake Kivu in Rwanda offers leisure and relaxation. Across…
It was one of the deadliest battles in decades in the Democratic Republic of Congo. After the city of Goma fell to a rebel group known as M23 last week, the International Red Cross said that civilians had paid a heavy price, and that the death toll was expected to go up as more bodies…
Mechanical diggers have spent days excavating the dark, volcanic earth of the city of Goma, preparing long trenches in which to bury the victims of one of the deadliest battles in decades in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Humanitarian workers in hazmat suits and teenagers in flip-flops and dirty masks tended to the dead amid…
Angolan President Joao Lourenco, who’s been mediating peace talks between Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo, called for the withdrawal of Rwandan-backed M23 rebels from the city of Goma and for Rwandan troops to leave Congolese territory. M23 invaded Goma with support from Rwanda’s army on Monday and the rebels now control a large part…
After Rwanda-backed rebels seized the Congolese city of Goma in 2012, powerful nations across the world registered their disapproval, announcing sanctions against Rwanda and other measures that led to the rebels’ defeat a year later. When those same rebels battled to capture Goma on Sunday, several nations once again voiced their criticism, but they have…