Former Major General Anastase MUNYANEZA has spoken about the history of the FDLR, tracing its origins to former members of Rwanda’s ex-FAR forces and other Rwandans who fled to what was then known as Zaire following the 1994 war.
Munyaneza said he joined the Forces Armées Rwandaises (FAR) during the government of former Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, before the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and its forces defeated the government army in 1994.
Following the defeat of the FAR, Munyaneza said he fled to what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), then known as Zaire, together with other former soldiers and Rwandan refugees.
He said that after Laurent-Désiré Kabila came to power in Congo following the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko, some of the Rwandans who had fled the country were asked to support Kabila’s government in military operations and the war.
According to Munyaneza, it was during this period that former FAR soldiers and other armed elements came together, eventually contributing to the formation of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
The FDLR has since remained one of the armed groups operating in eastern DRC, where its presence has been a longstanding issue in regional security discussions.
Munyaneza’s account provides his perspective on the group’s origins and its early links to armed forces and political developments in the region.
The former FAR officer also addressed what he described as cooperation between FDLR elements and the Congolese army, FARDC, as fighting and alliances involving armed groups continue to shape the security situation in eastern DRC.
