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Mudacumura had been a leader of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) since it was founded in 2000 by Hutu officials who fled Rwanda at the end of the 1994 genocide.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army said on Wednesday that it had killed Sylvestre Mudacumura, the commander of a Rwandan Hutu militia who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.
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The FDLR has waged periodic war with the Congolese government and rival militias, and Rwanda’s government has cited its presence on Congolese soil to justify repeated interventions across the border.
“Sylvestre Mudacumura was neutralized by the armed forces of Congo along with all the elements accompanying him ... in Rutshuru territory,” army spokesman Richard Kasonga told Reuters.
Mudacumura’s death is the latest blow to the FDLR, which has been weakened in recent years by arrests of several of its leaders and military pressure from Congo’s armed forces, the FARDC, and other militias.
Rwandan foreign affairs ministry official Olivier Nduhungirehe told Reuters he did not have confirmation himself of Mudacumura’s killing, but it was good news for peace and security in the region.
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