The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army has denied the presence of fighters from Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group in the country, in response to claims by a rebel group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The army has been struggling to contain the M23 rebel group that has in recent months captured swathes of territory in the eastern part of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reports have suggested the presence of Russian mercenaries in North Kivu province on government\u2019s invitation to help deal with the rebel group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is true, Wagner Group is here. We have evidence that we will show in due time,\u201d M23 spokesperson Willy Ngoma told the BBC on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that they had fought a joint team of the Congolese army and the mercenaries last week in Tongo and Nyamilima fronts in Rutshuru area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the army spokesperson Major General Sylvain Ekenge has denied the claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Wagner group is not operating in DR Congo,\u201d he told the BBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian mercenaries have a presence in DR Congo\u2019s northern neighbour, Central African Republic, where in 2021 they played a role in fighting rebels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year in October, Congolese President F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi told a meeting in London that he would not bring in Russian mercenaries to deal with the rebel activity in his country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know it\u2019s fashionable now\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.[but] no, we don\u2019t need to use mercenaries,” he was quoted as saying by the Financial Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The unrest in eastern DR Congo has displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BBC News Africa<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army has denied the presence of fighters from Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group in the country, in response to claims by a rebel group. The army has been struggling to contain the M23 rebel group that has in recent months captured swathes of territory in the eastern part of the country. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":34535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[3875,820],"class_list":["post-34534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-democratic-republic-of-congo-2","tag-m23"],"yoast_head":"\n