What roles do Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda play?

The seizure of the M23 rebels from huge lands of land in the mineral -rich east of the Democratic Republic of Congo caused a humanitarian and diplomatic crisis involving several neighboring countries.

Anxious number of African armies are already located in the conflict area, which has a long history of external intervention.

The Congo is so huge – two -thirds of the size of Western Europe – that it is a member of both the eastern and southern African blocks.

The two regional groups join forces to hold an emergency summit on Saturday to try to end the fighting.

So what are the main players and what do they want?

First is Congoan President Félix Tshisekedi. He wants to regain the territory lost by the rebels, including the largest Eastern city of Goma, and prevent them from taking over more.

He accuses Rwanda leader Paul Kagame of supporting the M23 with weapons and troops, accusing Kigali of invading Congoy territory in order to loot the mineral wealth of the country and organize a change of regime.

The case that Rwanda supports the M23 offensive is based on evidence presented in a UN report and widely adopted by many African and Western governments who demanded Kagame to withdraw his strength.

However, for the powerlessness of Tshisikedi, no one coincides with their rhetoric with the actions and responses to Kinshasa’s calls for sanctions and other difficult measures.

The Congoan leader is also worried about keeping his place.

“I think his government’s political survival is at risk,” said Jason Sturns, a former UN investigator at Congo and currently professor at Simon Freser University.

There is concern that the M23 campaign can strengthen the internal opposition forces or cause a coup in its army, which has a reputation for fragmentation and undermining corruption.

In this conflict, the longtime leader of Rwanda Kagame is the center of attention, but he is practiced when it diverts.

It has a long history of military intervention in the interior of the Congo, related to the consequences of the genocide in Rwanda since 1994.

Rwanda does not admit that he provides military support to the M23, but repeatedly insists that he will do everything he needs to defend himself.

Kagame maintains that Rwanda’s priority is to destroy an armed group formed by the perpetrators of the Hutu genocide, who kill Rwandan Tutsis and then escaped what is now Eastern Congo.

He accused the army of D -C Congo in unifying forces with them and others, so that he not only killed Congoan Tutis – for whom M23 claims to be fighting for protection – but also threatens Rwanda.

At the diplomatic level, Rwanda wants confirmation of its story-that the conflict is a Congoan problem, and Kigali simply defends its borders against the overflow of a civil war.

It is a claim to negotiate directly with the M23, which refuses to do.

But what really is, said G -n Stearns, is “to maintain a sphere of influence in the Eastern Dr. Congo.”

Rwanda has economic as well as security interests.

Kigali denies the UN’s evidence that it smuggled huge amounts of gold and other metals from the Eastern Congo and sells them as its own. But access to the mineral wealth of the C Congo has been the engine of conflict in the region for decades.

This time there are others, last but not least, the personal dislike between the kagame and the Tsiseked.

“Kagame wants to learn tshisekedi about a lesson about who is the strong man in the block,” says Richard Montcriff, who is following the Africa Grand Lakes region for the International Crisis Group (ICG).

The Rwandans “will just continue to fight until he makes discounts and … gives them a lot of free inflammation (the eastern province) of North Kivu,” he added.

Rwanda sees Burundi’s army as another threat to security in the Eastern Congo.

The nation, which borders both from Rwanda and D -Congo, has had thousands of soldiers there for years. They went to hunt Burdian rebels, but now they support the Kinshas army in battles against the M23.

The links between Rwanda and Burundi are hostile. The two countries have a similar ethnic makeup, but unlike Rwanda, the majority Hutus is in power in Burundi. Both sides accused each other of trying to overthrow their governments.

Burundi President Evarist Nadishimie reported a strong warning warning about social media.

“If Rwanda continues to make conquests,” he writes, “I know the war will even arrive in Burundi … One day he (kagam) wants to come to Burundi – we will not accept it. The war will spread.”

The threat would increase if the M23 continued its progress from Goma in the province of South Kivu closer to the border of Burundi, where its forces are located.

“What Burundi is looking for here is the survival of the regime,” said G -n Stearns.

“Burundi is worried that if the Rwandan troops … expand their influence in South Kivu, which could destabilize the government in Bujumpur. What is set here is to stop this rebellion before it gets too close to home.”

Some are afraid of the repetition of the two wars that covered the region in the late 1990s, which attracted nine different countries and, according to reports, led to millions of deaths.

This time, direct clashes between the two armies can extend the Congo conflict beyond its borders.

Uganda does not participate directly, but there are also troops in East Congo.

They help the Congoan government with a different threat to security – to hunt fighters of Ugandan origin who are related to the Islamic State Group.

But Uganda’s role is confusing – she works with the Congojan, while claiming to provide at least complicity to the M23 support. UN experts say this has allowed them to use Uganda territory as a back base and a delivery route.

Campala flatly denies this. But she responded to the M23 offensive by putting her troops in a “forward defensive pose” to prevent the use of other armed groups, she said.

The locals report that they see Ugandan soldiers moving towards the conflict area, enhancing fears of regional escalation.

Like Rwanda, Uganda has entered the eastern Congo in the past, claiming to defend its borders. But he is also accused of robbery of natural resources, especially gold.

Analysts expect him to protect his economic interests while following the Ruads.

“It is very clear that Uganda wants to maintain her own influence in the Eastern Congo and not to be pushed out of his rival in Rwanda,” says ICG Moncriff.

South Africa has contributed the bigger part of the troops to combat regional power in South Africa with the Congoan army and has suffered major losses.

But he is also pushed into the titles because of an amazingly vitro exchange between Kigali and Johannesburg.

The South Africans have accused the death of 14 of their soldiers on Rwanda’s defense forces, which President Cyril Ramafosa has cited as RDF’s militia.

His Minister of Defense claims that he has warned Kagame that any more firing will be taken as a declaration of war.

This infuriated the President of Rwanda, who said that the story of their conversation was a “lie” and called the South Africans a “belligerent” force that the Congo should leave.

This is the largest end of the broad division between the East African community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

EAC supports Rwanda’s call for direct conversations between Kinshasa and M23.

While SADC condemned RDF attacks against its soldiers, including the Tanzanian and Malawian troops, and confirmed their commitment to independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Congo.