Sylvestre Mudacumura aged 65, wanted by ICC has been shot to death by Congolese army, according to the Army spokesperson.
Mudacumura, who has led the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) for years, was killed in eastern Congo’s Rutshuru territory, army spokesman Richard Kasonga said.
The FDLR comprises elements blamed for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, in Rwanda, which claimed the lives of over a million Rwandans over a period of three months.
Mudacumura, 65, has been wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In 2012, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Mudacumura over alleged attacks against civilians, murder, rape and torture in eastern Congo, where the militia group operated since the end of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Mudacumura was the deputy commander of the Rwandan presidential guard during the genocide.
DR Congo’s mineral-rich east is home to a myriad of armed groups.
Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo- FARDC, the DRC army, claimed their forces killed Mudacumura in Bwito on Wednesday morning.
Since 2012, Mudacumura has been the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on nine counts of war crimes in eastern DR Congo’s North and South Kivu provinces.
The FDLR militia is listed as a terrorist organization.
Over 10,000 FDLR combatants have voluntarily returned home to Rwanda over the years.
Many have since been facilitated to reintegrate back into their communities, while some have been reintegrated into the Rwanda Defense Forces
The Express News
