The Democratic Republic of Congo's armed forces, the FARDC, have appealed to soldiers who have joined rebel ranks to abandon them, Uganda Radionetwork reported on Wednesday. The plea comes amid what the outlet described as mass defections from the army.
According to Uganda Radionetwork, the appeal follows reports that a FARDC operations commander has defected to a rebel group in DR Congo. BBC reported that the FRN said Brig Gen François Kamanzi had left the FARDC to work with it. ChimpReports separately reported that General Kamanzi had defected to the FRN rebels, which it linked to Kabila.
The reports name the FRN as the group receiving the defecting officer, though the material available does not specify the group's full identity or its leadership in further detail. The FARDC's public call for soldiers to leave rebel ranks suggests the army is trying to stem further losses, but no figures on the scale of the defections have been provided in the reporting summarized here.
The accounts differ in emphasis: Uganda Radionetwork framed the development around the army's plea to its soldiers, while BBC and ChimpReports focused on the commander's reported move to the FRN. None of the outlets cited in the summary offered a response from Kamanzi or from the FRN beyond the statement that he had joined the group.
What to watch next: whether the FARDC confirms Kamanzi's departure and whether more soldiers follow the appeal to return.
