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Rwandan troops have attacked soldiers inside DR Congo and aided the M23 rebel group, according to a report by independent experts for the UN seen by AFP on Thursday.

The findings follow months of deepening tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda over the notorious M23.

The DRC has repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing the militia, which has captured swathes of territory in recent months. Kigali has repeatedly denied any involvement. 

But according to a 131-page report by experts for the UN Security Council, Rwanda has launched military interventions inside Congolese territory since at least November 2021.

Rwanda also “provided troop reinforcements” for specific M23 operations, the report said, “in particular when these aimed at seizing strategic towns and areas.”

The investigation also found that Congolese forces had been providing support for armed groups in the deeply troubled east.

The M23 — for “March 23 Movement” — is a primarily Congolese Tutsi group.

It first leapt to prominence in 2012 when it briefly captured the eastern DRC city of Goma before a joint Congolese-UN offensive drove it out.

After lying mostly dormant for years, the rebel group resumed fighting late last year.

It has made significant advances, notably capturing the strategic town of Bunagana on the Ugandan border in June.

– ‘Joint attack’ –

On May 25, the report said, a large DRC army base in Rumangabo in eastern North Kivu province came under heavy mortar and small-arms fire.

M23 fighters and Rwandan troops “jointly attacked” the site after Rwandan troops had crossed into the DRC the day before, it alleged. 

An estimated 1,000 Rwandan troops also cut the main highway leading to the provincial capital Goma, an important commercial hub on the Rwandan border, and attacked Congolese positions, it said. 

On the eve of the attack on Bunagana, and on the day itself, Rwandan soldiers were in the vicinity, the report said, citing drone images from the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, eyewitnesses, amateur videos and photos.

It added that Ugandan troops at the border acquiesced to M23 fighters crossing into the DRC.

“On repeated occasions, aerial imagery showed large columns of up to 500 armed men in the vicinity of the DRC, Rwandan and Ugandan borders, moving in a very organized manner,” the report said. 

The columns of soldiers wore “standardized military attire” that bore close resemblance to Rwandan army uniforms, the report added. 

Some 300 Rwandan troops also conducted operations against rebel groups in eastern DRC, such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).  

The FDLR is a Rwandan Hutu rebel group based in the DRC, which the Rwandan government views as a threat. Kigali has regularly accused Congo of supporting the militia. 

– DRC and militias –

The UN report also found that the Congolese army supported militias active in the east of the country. 

On May 26, after being dislodged from positions near the Goma highway, the Congolese army launched a counterattack alongside militia fighters, for example. 

A coalition of armed groups had formed in May, with the knowledge of Congolese officers, the report said.

Leaders of several militias confirmed to the experts that the Congolese army had provided them with weapons and munitions “on several occasions,” it added.

The DRC and Rwanda have had strained relations since the mass influx of Rwandan Hutus accused of slaughtering Tutsis during the 1994 Rwanda genocide. 

Relations began to thaw after DRC President Felix Tshisekedi took office in 2019 but the M23’s resurgence reignited tensions.

The report comes after 36 people died in eastern Congo last week during protests against the UN’s peacekeeping force, which were fuelled by perceptions that it is ineffectual against armed groups.

A poll by New York University’s Congo Research Group and Congolese research institute Ebuteli, published Thursday, found that 44 percent of Congolese people interviewed thought peacekeepers should leave the country.

In Taiwan’s Keelung port dispatchers spent much of Thursday broadcasting warnings to fishing boats heading north, reminding them that China’s military was conducting live-fire drills nearby.

“This is the Keelung radio station,” the radio system crackled. “China’s People’s Liberation Army will conduct military exercises from August 4th at noon…”

The warnings, at the top of every hour, were a stark reminder that Taiwan’s 23 million inhabitants live under the constant threat of invasion — a danger that has intensified under China’s current leader Xi Jinping.

Throughout the day, dispatchers received calls from Taiwan’s navy detailing which vessels were heading too close to the multiple danger zones China declared around the island.

They would then scramble to contact individual vessels and warn them off.

“We have had to continuously warn 10-20 boats by radio to leave and stay away,” Huang Li-yue, the 61-year-old chief of Keelung fishing fleet radio station, told AFP. 

“There are also enquires from boats about the locations of exercise areas.”

Huang said she remembered the last time this happened.

In 1995, China began test-firing missiles in the waters around Taiwan, to protest a visit by then president Lee Teng-hui to his alma mater university in the United States. 

Further missile tests were carried out a year later as Taiwan held its first direct presidential election. 

But China’s latest drills — a protest against this week’s visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — were much closer to the shoreline. 

“The tension during the previous 1995-96 crisis was high too, but this time it is happening in Taiwan’s surrounding waters,” Huang said.

– ‘Not much we can do’ –

China’s Communist Party has never controlled Taiwan, but it regards the island as part of its territory and has vowed to one day take it.

Beijing has ramped up its sabre-rattling ever since Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016, as she views the island as a sovereign nation and not a part of China.

Taiwan’s people have long had to get used to threats and spikes in tension that are far outside their control, exemplified by China’s latest drills which have encircled the island. 

Chen Wen-ching, executive secretary of the Keelung Fishermen’s Association, said many members were unhappy about being unable to work during what is peak season. 

“But there’s not much we can do. They (China) do what they want,” he told AFP. 

“Life is more important. You can make money later. Leave the area is what’s most important.” 

Chou Ting-tai, 68, returned from fishing for squid in Taiwan’s northern waters shortly before the Chinese drills started around noon. 

“We can avoid the areas but psychologically there’s still some stress, right? What if something went wrong with their aim and it went astray?” he said.

In nearby Taipei, many residents said they needed to get on with their daily lives unfazed by China’s fresh show of force. 

“I think China is bluffing and it is trying to shift the attention on its domestic and economic woes by staging the military exercises around Taiwan,” said 22-year-old Leo Chung, after serving a string of lunchtime customers at his family’s small restaurant. 

Shopkeeper Wang Yi-ting, 40, said she was hopeful that Taiwan’s allies, such as the United States and Japan, would ultimately intervene if China ever attacked for real.

“Although Taiwan is very small we have a place on the world stage,” Wang said.

But Karen Hsueh, 60, fretted that Taiwan was just a helpless pawn in a struggle between two far stronger powers.

“I think China cannot afford to look weak and it has to take actions to show it is not afraid of the United States,” the shopkeeper told AFP. 

“Frankly I am more worried about China punishing Taiwan with economic means. I think Taiwan is the victim in the confrontation between China and the United States.”

The Taliban said Thursday they have no knowledge of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s presence in Afghanistan, days after US President Joe Biden announced the Al-Qaeda chief’s killing by a drone strike in Kabul.

Zawahiri’s assassination is the biggest blow to Al-Qaeda since US special forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, and calls into question the Taliban’s promise not to harbour militant groups.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no information about Ayman al-Zawahiri’s arrival and stay in Kabul,” said an official statement — the Taliban’s first mention of his name since Biden’s announcement.

Zawahiri was believed to be in charge of steering Al-Qaeda’s operations — including the 9/11 attacks — as well as serving as bin Laden’s personal doctor.

A senior US administration official said the 71-year-old Egyptian was on the balcony of a three-storey house in the Afghan capital when targeted with two Hellfire missiles early on Sunday.

Thursday’s carefully phrased Taliban statement neither confirmed his presence in Afghanistan nor acknowledged his death.

“The leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has instructed the intelligence agencies to hold a comprehensive and serious investigation,” it said.

“The fact that America invaded our territory and violated all international principles, we strongly condemn the action once again.

“If such action is repeated, the responsibility of any consequences will be on the United States of America.”

The Taliban reiterated in their statement that there was “no threat” to any country from Afghanistan’s soil.

They called on Washington to adhere to the Doha pact signed in February 2020 that paved the way for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, ending two decades of US-led military intervention in the country.

In announcing Zawahiri’s death Tuesday, Biden declared “justice had been delivered” to the families of victims of the 9/11 attacks on the US.

Sunday’s drone attack was the first known over-the-horizon strike by the US on a target in Afghanistan since Washington withdrew its forces from the country on August 31 last year, days after the Taliban swept back to power.

The house targeted in the strike is in Sherpur, one of Kabul’s most affluent neighbourhoods, with several villas occupied by high-ranking Taliban officials and commanders.

Zawahiri took over Al-Qaeda after bin Laden was killed, and had a $25 million US bounty on his head.

News of his death comes a month before the first anniversary of the final withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, leaving the country in the hands of the Taliban insurgency that fought Western forces since the US-led invasion in 2001.

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Southeast Asian foreign ministers urged restraint Thursday as China launched massive military drills off Taiwan, warning the situation risked spiralling into “open conflicts”.

A furious Beijing kicked off its biggest-ever exercises around Taiwan in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit this week to the self-ruled island.

Ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Phnom Penh warned against “provocative action”.

The situation “could lead to miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers”, the ministers said in a joint statement published Thursday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is attending the talks along with his US counterpart Antony Blinken, though they are not expected to hold a one-on-one meeting.

At a meeting with ASEAN ministers, Blinken said the United States had contacted China “at every level of government” in recent days to call for calm and stability.

“I hope very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretext to increase its aggressive military activity,” Blinken said.

“We and countries around the world believe that escalation serves no one and could have unintended consequences that serve no one’s interests including ASEAN members and including China.”

Beijing, which considers Taiwan a part of its territory to one day be reclaimed, by force if necessary, was enraged by the trip by Pelosi — the highest-profile elected US official to visit the island in 25 years.

It vowed “punishment” and state TV said it began military drills, including live-fire exercises, at 0400 GMT in several areas encircling Taiwan.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, also in Phnom Penh, condemned the Chinese response.

“There is no justification to use a visit as pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait. It is normal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally,” he tweeted.

Kung Phoak, Cambodia’s deputy foreign minister and ASEAN spokesman, urged both sides to stabilise the situation. 

“We hope de-escalation happens… and normalcy returns to the Taiwan Strait,” he told reporters.

– Miscalculation fear –

ASEAN is split between countries with close ties to China, such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, and others that are warier of Beijing and its growing international assertiveness. 

But no ASEAN country formally recognises Taiwan and none has shown an appetite for backing Taipei against the communist giant.

The ministers’ statement — which avoided referring to Taiwan by name — said ASEAN “stands ready to play a constructive role in facilitating peaceful dialogue”, though it is not clear either side is interested in outside mediation.

While Wang and Blinken are not scheduled to meet bilaterally, they will both attend a meeting Friday of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), a 27-member body set up to discuss security issues that also includes Russia and the EU.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who will also join the ARF gathering, said the fragile status quo in the Taiwan Strait must be maintained.

“All parties should consider how they can contribute to de-escalating current tensions,” Wong told AFP.

“One of the risks the region is concerned about is the risk of miscalculation.”

Pelosi’s visit and the flare-up over Taiwan have overshadowed the ASEAN meeting, which had been due to focus on the bloody crisis in Myanmar.

ASEAN has spearheaded so far fruitless diplomatic efforts to ease the turmoil that has flowed from last year’s military coup.

Several members are growing increasingly angry at the junta’s stonewalling tactics.

Curious onlookers made their way Thursday to the site of a volcano erupting near Iceland’s capital Reykjavik to marvel at the bubbling lava, a day after the fissure appeared in an uninhabited valley.

The eruption was around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Reykjavik, near the site of the Mount Fagradalsfjall volcano in southwestern Iceland that spewed magma for six months between March and September 2021.

While last year’s eruption was easily accessible on foot and drew more than 435,000 tourists, the new eruption is trickier to access, requiring a strenuous 90-minute hilly hike from the closest car park. 

Despite that, more than 1,830 people visited the site on the first day of the eruption, according to the Icelandic Tourist Board, and more visitors were seen trekking to the scene early Thursday.

Among them was American tourist Hather Hoff, 42, for whom seeing lava was “a life goal”.

“I had to sit down and have a little cry because it is so beautiful, so emotional — this is the raw power of our planet,” she told AFP.

Anita Sauckel, a 40-year-old German living in Iceland, visited last year’s eruption and could not resist witnessing the latest volcanic activity.

“This is special with the lava, huge fountains popping out in the middle, and I love that a lot,” she said.

The fissure was estimated to be around 360 metres (1,181 feet) long, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said Thursday, with lava fountains about 10-15 metres high.

Wednesday’s eruption was preceded by a period of intense seismic activity, with about 10,000 earthquakes detected since Saturday, including two with a magnitude of at least 5.0.

The frequency of the earthquakes has slowed since the magma burst through the ground.

The average lava flow in the first hours was estimated at 32 cubic metres per second, according to measurements done Wednesday at 1705 GMT — 3.5 hours after the eruption began — by scientists from the Institute of Earth Sciences.

That is about four or five times more than at the beginning of last year’s eruption.

“The current eruption is therefore much more powerful,” the Institute wrote in a Facebook post.

The lava covered an area of about 74,000 square metres (around 800,000 square feet), it said. 

By comparison, last year’s six-month eruption saw 150 million cubic metres of lava spilled over 4.85 square kilometres.

– Gas risk –

Officials had initially urged people to refrain from visiting the site until a danger assessment had been conducted.

But on Thursday, the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management said only that young children should not walk up to the eruption site.

Gases from a volcanic eruption — especially sulphur dioxide — can be elevated in the immediate vicinity, may pose a danger to health and even be fatal.

Gas pollution can also be carried by the wind.

Mount Fagradalsfjall belongs to the Krysuvik volcanic system on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland.

Known as the land of fire and ice, Iceland has 32 volcanic systems currently considered active, the highest number in Europe. The country has had an eruption every five years on average.

However, until last year, the Reykjanes peninsula had not experienced an eruption since the 13th century, when a volcano erupted for 30 years from 1210-1240.

Geophysicists have said that the 2021 eruption could signal the beginning of a new period of eruptions lasting centuries.

A vast island near the Arctic Circle, Iceland straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack on the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

The shifting of these plates is in part responsible for Iceland’s intense volcanic activity.