DR Congo says handover of 20 alleged Hutu rebels was staged

KINSHASA — The Democratic Republic of Congo's army denied Sunday that 20 fighters linked to the Rwandan genocide had been captured on its territory, calling a video of their handover to Rwanda "faked".

The statement came after the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group in eastern DRC said on Saturday it had captured fighters from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a militia founded by ethnic Hutus who took part in the genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994.

Rwanda has long pointed to the alleged presence of the FDLR in eastern DRC to justify its support for the M23.

With Rwanda's backing, the M23 has seized swathes of the DRC's troubled, mineral-rich east in recent months, including the key provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu.

The M23 released a video showing its forces handing over 20 alleged FDLR fighters to Rwanda at a border post between the two countries.

"This is a faked incident in poor taste orchestrated with the sole aim of discrediting our army," the Congolese armed forces chiefs of staff said in a statement.

"This is part of the Rwandan strategy to justify the invasion of parts of the DRC's territory," it added.

"The Rwandan authorities, who specialize in the art of lies and manipulation, took old FDLR detainees, dressed them in new military fatigues, and passed them off as FDLR fighters newly captured in Goma."

The DRC high command also accused the Rwandan army of "summary executions" of wounded and ill soldiers at a field hospital in Goma, which "constitutes a war crime and crime against humanity", it said.

The escalating conflict in eastern DRC has raised fears it could spiral into a wider regional war, drawing in Rwanda, Uganda and other countries.