Ex-DRC President Kabila’s alliance with M23 rebels: Why it matters

Former President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has officially allied with armed rebel groups, raising fears of further escalation of an ongoing conflict in the country’s east that has already killed thousands. Kabila on Monday launched a new political-military coalition to replace the M23-AFC alliance, which is fighting government forces and controls swaths of territory. The new movement will “put an end to tyranny by any means necessary, including the use of force”, coalition spokesperson Claude Ibalanky said, in what appeared to be a chilling threat to the government in Kinshasa. It comes precisely a year after Kabila was sentenced to death by a military court for alleged links to the rebel groups.