Untold Story: How Rebel FDLR Leader, Sylvester Mudacumura, was Killed by Rwandan Special Forces

In March 2019, just two months after the election of DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, commanders of Rwandan Special Forces received instructions to prepare for combat action.

Rwanda had managed to convince Tshisekedi and his closest military officials about the need to conduct joint military operations in Eastern Congo to rout rebels seeking to overthrow President Paul Kagame.

At the time, rebels under FLN, an armed wing of opposition Movement Rwandais pour le Changement démocratique [MRCD], were leading incursions into Rwanda, killing people and destroying property worth millions of shillings.

In some instances, the rebels claimed to have killed Rwandan soldiers. Some of the attacks occurred in tourism hubs, piling pressure on President Kagame.

According to the World Bank, Rwanda tourism receipts hit $616m in 2017.

International tourism receipts are expenditures by international inbound visitors, including payments to national carriers for international transport.

As rebels threatened Rwanda’s major source of foreign exchange, Kagame had to act – swiftly.

As Special Forces rehearsed at military bases in the western part of the country, Kagame and his senior security advisor Gen James Kabarebe reached out to Tshisekedi to allow in Rwandan troops.

The Congolese military is largely inefficient due to corruption and infiltration by armed groups operating in the eastern part of the country. These armed movement levy taxes in their operations which they share with Congolese army officials.

Relying on DRC army to neutralize Rwandan rebels was suicidal for Kigali. Kagame wanted his own men in action.

Former president Joseph Kabila had rejected overtures from Rwanda to hunt down Rwandan rebels in the Kivus. This, to a large extent, led to laxity among rebels especially FDLR which was always assured of protection by the corrupt Congolese forces.

Nyamvumba role

As talks of joint operations gained momentum, then Rwandan Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba flew to Kinshasa to seal the deal.

In Kinshasa, Nyamvumba met with his DRC counterpart, Lieutenant General Célestin Mbala Munsense who said both countries have to “strengthen cooperation” to maintain peace.

“We are neighbors and need to improve both countries’ military cooperation to jointly uphold security,” said Munsense, adding, “We assure citizens of preserving peace to realize development in the region,”

After working on modalities of the joint cooperation, Generals Munsense and Nyamvumba drove to the presidential palace where they met with Tshisekedi.

Tshisekedi and his top army officers meeting Nyamvumba in Kinshasa

Nyamvumba being welcomed by Tshisekedi

On his part, Nyamvumba, who in the early 2000s commanded the Rwandan army during the Kisangani clashes with Ugandan armed forces, said he was in Kinshasa, to “honor President Tshisekedi, laud his willingness to promote military cooperation and convey greetings from the President of the Republic of Rwanda.”

Moments later, Rwandan Special Forces started crossing into DRC territory under the cover of darkness. Their main target was to hunt down and kill rebel leaders.

Mudacumura shot

While inexperienced fighters like Major Callixte Sankara had been picked like chicken thieves, it was unthinkable that Rwandan forces would get close to FDLR leader Sylvester Mudacumura.

Mudacumura was born in Gutumba sector, Gisenyi prefecture in Rwanda in 1954. He was the highest-ranking military commander of the “Forces Démocratiques pour la Liberation du Rwanda” (FDLR).

The FDLR is a paramilitary rebel group consisting of former members of Hutu Power rebel group, which participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Mudacumura himself was the former deputy commander of the Forces Armées Rwandaises (FAR) Presidential Guard in Rwanda in 1994. The guard secured then President Juvenal Habyarimana.

Mudacumura’s forces re-grouped within refugee camps in the DRC, organized themselves and launched attacks in Rwanda, with the goal of removing its then new Government by force.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) says the FDLR was involved in the two Congo wars, from 1996 until 2003, that caused, directly or indirectly, an estimated 4 million victims. The court accused Mudacumura of crimes against humanity which included murder, inhumane acts, torture, rape and persecution; and war crimes through attacks against a civilian population.

Killing Mudacumura

Before raiding Mudacumura’s hideout in Bwito, Rutshuru, North Kivu province, Rwandan forces had gathered plenty of intelligence about his lifestyle, protection units and weaknesses.

It will be recalled that in 2018, DRC soldiers (FARDC) arrested FDLR spokesperson, Laforge Bazeye Fils and Lt Col Theophile alias Abega the chief spy in FDLR at Bunagana border.

The duo reportedly provided the much-needed intelligence about FDLR operations and whereabouts of Mudacumura to the Rwandan army. It was a matter of time before Rwandan forces could take action.

During the joint operations, Rwandan forces asked DRC commanders to allow them deploy surveillance assets near Mudacumura’s military base.

Mudacumura had lived in an underground bunker for over two decades.

He would leave the bunker at night or early morning to meet with his commanders and escorts.

Accessing Mudacumura was almost impossible. He met only top FDLR leaders. It is said he kept some DRC field commanders on payroll, hence providing him intelligence and protection.

Mudacumura’s meetings would be held early morning (around 5:00am). He would return to the bunker before sunrise. This is the life he has lived since 1994.

However, little did he know his life on earth was soon coming to an end.

The politics had changed. There were new occupants in the presidential place in Kinshasa.

The reign of Kabila, who had literally turned a blind eye to FDLR, had ended.

Kagame and Tshisekedi were on talking terms. The men who wanted Mudacumura’s life were right in his neighborhood.

For several weeks, Rwandan surveillance teams dressed in DRC military uniform kept an eye on Mudacumura’s camp as operations officers drew an attack plan.

The FDLR fighters thought these were DRC soldiers who had for long provided them some protection.

Officials briefed about the attack say Mudacumura was concerned that Rwanda was killing or arresting FDLR commanders and was actively engaged in operations in DRC. He called a meeting of some of his top commanders.

Having obtained actionable intelligence, President Kagame ordered an attack on Mudacumura.

The finest Special Forces rehearsed the operation in DRC. Silencer guns were oiled. The commandos were equipped with night vision equipment. The big fish was in sight. On the morning of September 18, the Rwandan commandos went into action in a pre-dawn attack.

On that fateful day, Mudacumura had called several commanders to a high level meeting at his camp which he didn’t know had been surrounded by Rwandan Special Forces.

The Rwandan commandos crawled through thickets in the night until they reached the camp, strangling Mudacumura’s guards, one by one. Mudacumura was enjoying porridge in plastic cup when the Rwandan commandos stormed his hut.

Before the 66-year-old Mudacumura could move an inch, bullets had struck his chest. His colleagues were not spared either. In a few hours, the classified operation came to an end.

The killing was seen as a major blow to FDLR which had in recent years reactivated its military units to prepare for war against Rwanda.

Rwandans reportedly retrieved a trove of documents from the camp.