NO SOLDIERS IN DRC? RWANDAN MILITARY CEMETERIES FILL UP

Despite Rwanda's repeated denials that its troops are fighting alongside the M23 militia in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a wealth of evidence suggests that a large number of Rwandan soldiers has been killed since the Kigali-backed rebels intensified their insurgency in 2021.

On 7 February, the British newspaper The Guardian, quoting intelligence sources, reported that the number of Rwandan soldiers killed in the DRC in the last three years could be in the thousands. According to the report, military hospitals in Rwanda have recorded a surge in the number of soldiers hospitalised for war-related injuries. Morgues at some of the hospitals are reportedly running out of space.

Satellite images, meanwhile, show a major increase in the number of graves at military cemeteries nationwide. For instance, at least 600 new graves were added to the Kanombe military cemetery in the capital between August 2021 and 15 December 2024.

But this likely only hints at the scale of the deaths, as many of the killed soldiers, especially of lower rank, are not repatriated home. Also, the number of graves is likely to have risen further in the last few weeks following M23’s violent capture of eastern DRC's largest city, Goma, at the end of January.

These data not only confirm that Rwanda is the puppet master behind M23, they also show that Congolese people are not taking the invasion lying down but are defending their homeland and fighting back.

According to UN figures, since 26 January, more than 3,000 people have been killed, 2,880 injured and over 500,000 displaced - adding to the more than 7 million already displaced by the three-decade proxy mineral war in the Congo.

Video Credit: Planet Labs PBC

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/feb/07/democratic-republic-congo-drc-paul-kagame-m23-rebels-goma-rwanda-troops-dying-denials