Close to 300 foreign mercenaries – at least some identifying themselves as Romanians – have surrendered to local UN peacekeeping forces after being contracted to fight for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in central Africa.
Reuters reported Wednesday that the mercenaries were contracted to counter an offensive by Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who captured the city of Goma in eastern DRC, near Rwanda. The rebels then cornered the mercenaries, who subsequently surrendering to local UN peacekeeping forces.
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Euronews, citing local outlets, reported Wednesday that “some 288 European mercenaries, most of them Romanian, had crossed into Rubavu” on the Rwandan side, neighboring Goma.
It said the mercenaries were “hired by [well-known] Romanian mercenary Horațiu Potra’s company” and “had apparently holed themselves up” at the UN base in Goma, likely referring to the same group of mercenaries.
A recent report from PressOne, a Romanian news outlet, said “there could be over 200 Romanian mercenaries” fighting near Goma before adding that it was unable to confirm the numbers.
However, Reuters said the UN troops had arranged the mercenaries’ transit home via Rwanda.
One unnamed mercenary, identifying himself as a Romanian, told Reuters that he has been in Goma for two years and is thankful to be heading home.
“We are just relieved because we can [finally go] home... it’s a big relief… Goma is devastated because of the war between the Rwandans and the Congolese,” he told Reuters whilst crossing into Rwanda.
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The Romanian mercenaries were employed to bolster local troops and potentially provide training, as they were seen fighting alongside DRC government forces.
Congo has had a long history of hiring mercenaries to bolster its forces, such as the siege on Jadotville in 1961, which saw foreign mercenaries and local militias attacking a UN base manned by Irish troops.
According to PressOne, the Romanian contractors consist of “reservists from various Romanian law enforcement services” such as its police, Gendarmerie units, military special forces, but also civilians.
Henry-Pacifique Mayala, from Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a group that tracks unrest in eastern Congo, told Reuters that multiple foreign contractors operate in DRC with little coordination.
“Congo employed the services of Agemira RDC, a subsidiary of a Bulgarian-based parent company, for logistics, as well as Congo Protection, led by a former member of the French Foreign Legion, for training,” Reuters’s Wednesday report states.
Reuters cited an instance in which one of the mercenaries captured, of unknown nationality, was scolded by M23 spokesperson Willy Ngoma while crossing the border, citing a video shared by Rwanda’s New Times newspaper.
The mercenary said he was trained by the French Foreign Legion, a French military unit that primarily recruits foreign nationals willing to serve France by offering them a path to French citizenship through service.
“We have a very rich country. But with greedy leaders. They recruited you, you receive $8,000 per month and you are fed, while [Congolese soldiers] receive less than $100,” Ngoma said. Kyiv Post could not independently verify the salaries received by the Romanian mercenaries for their work with the DRC.
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