{"id":53693,"date":"2025-04-03T12:15:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T12:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/amb-nkulikiyimfura-defends-rwanda-s-defensive-measures-before-french\/"},"modified":"2025-04-04T10:33:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T10:33:54","slug":"amb-nkulikiyimfura-defends-rwanda-s-defensive-measures-before-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/amb-nkulikiyimfura-defends-rwanda-s-defensive-measures-before-french\/","title":{"rendered":"Amb. Nkulikiyimfura defends Rwanda\u2019s defensive measures before French parliamentarians"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>He explained that these measures were necessary due to ongoing security threats posed by the FDLR, a terrorist group formed by individuals responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.<\/p>\n<p>Amb. Nkulikiyimfura illustrated the severity of the threat by comparing the distance between Kigali and FDLR\u2019s bases, 170 kilometers, to the distance between Paris and Reims. For three decades, he noted, Rwanda has faced a persistent security challenge along its border, necessitating strong defensive actions to protect its sovereignty.<\/p>\n<p>Despite sanctions imposed by the U.S., the United Nations, and the European Union, FDLR continues to operate freely with the support of the Congolese government. <\/p>\n<p>Amb. Nkulikiyimfura emphasized that instead of dismantling the group, the Congolese army (FARDC) collaborates with it, further endangering Rwanda\u2019s security. <\/p>\n<p>He also criticized MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC, for failing to neutralize FDLR despite its decades-long presence in the region.<\/p>\n<p>Referring to recent security incidents, he highlighted that after the M23 rebels took control of Goma on January 27, 2025, FARDC forces launched artillery strikes into Rwanda\u2019s Rubavu district, killing 16 civilians. <\/p>\n<p>He revealed that intelligence reports confirmed a coordinated plan involving FDLR, FARDC, Burundian forces, SAMIDRC troops, and European mercenaries to carry out a large-scale attack against Rwanda.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, weapons\u2014including missiles, drones, and heavy artillery\u2014were discovered less than five kilometers from Rwanda\u2019s border, indicating an imminent threat. <\/p>\n<p>In light of these developments, the ambassador reaffirmed that Rwanda\u2019s defensive measures are necessary and justified to ensure national security.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-84761\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/nkulikiy-369b5.jpg\" alt=\"Rwanda\u2019s Ambassador to France, Fran\u00e7ois Nkulikiyimfura, addressed French parliamentarians on April 2, 2025, where he defended the country\u2019s defensive measures along its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). \" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rwanda\u2019s Ambassador to France, Fran\u00e7ois Nkulikiyimfura, addressed French parliamentarians on April 2, 2025, where he defended the country\u2019s defensive measures along its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000084760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000084760,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nkulikiy-369b5.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nkulikiy-369b5.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nkulikiy-369b5.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nkulikiy-369b5.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nkulikiy-369b5.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nkulikiy-369b5.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000084760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53693"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53693"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}