The leader of M23 whose career graphics the turmoil in Rwanda and Dr. Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo is in turmoil – fighters from the notorious rebel group M23 pass through the east of the country, fighting the national army and capturing key places as they go.

In just two weeks, it is said that thousands of people were killed and the fighting caused a sinister war of words between D -Congo and his neighbor Rwanda.

So, how do Congo – the biggest country in Africa of Subsahara – got here?

The origin of this complex conflict can be understood through the history of one person – the leader of M23 Sultans Mackenga, who is the subject of various accusations of crime in the war.

He was sanctioned by the United States for the use of children's soldiers, which he denied. The UN accused him of being responsible for sexual abuse.

Let's go back through Macken's life so far means looking at decades of war, periodic foreign intervention and the constant lure of the rich mineral resources of the C Congo.

His life began at Christmas in 1973, when he was born in the lush Congoy city of Massisi.

Educated by the parents of the Tutsi ethnic group, Mackenga left school at the age of 17 to join Tutsi's rebel clothing across the Rwanda border.

This group, called Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), required a more big deal of Tutsi in the Rwanda government, which at that time was dominated by majority Hutu politicians.

They also wanted hundreds and thousands of refugees from Tutsi, who were forced by the country by ethnic violence to be able to return home.

For four years, Mackenga and RPF have been fighting with Hutu Army dominated in Rwanda. Their battle was wrapped with 1994 genocideWhen Hutu's extremists killed 800,000 tuts and a moderate Hutus.

When you look back at that time in a A rare interview for 2013Mackena said: “My life is war, my education is a war, and my language is a war … But I respect peace.”

RPF gradually seized more and more land before entering the Rwanda capital, boiling and overthrowing Hutu's extremist government – many of which fled to what is now Congo.

With RPF in power, Macken was engulfed by the official army in Rwanda and rose to the rank of sergeant and deputy platoon commander.

“He was very good at placing an ambush,” one of Makenga's RPF colleagues told The Makenga Institute of Rift Valley Non -profit research organization.

However, his progress in Rwanda's army hit a ceiling. The fact that he had only primary education and speaks broken French and English is a “obstacle to his military career,” said the Rift Institute Valley.

Mackena is also said – to this day – to be very reserved and to fight public speeches.

In 1997, he was part of Rwanda-supported forces, who eventually seized power in Dr. Congo, thinning longtime ruler Mobu Sese Seko. In its place, they installed a veteran Congoish rebel leader Laurent Kabila.

However, Mackenga began to face his superiors – he was arrested by Rwanda's authorities after declining orders to return to Rwanda, a UN Security Council Report He said.

He was therefore closed for several years on Iva Island.

Meanwhile, relations between Kabila and Rwanda's new leaders have deteriorated.

Rwanda tried to crush Hutu's police officers who were responsible for the genocide but had fled across the 1994 border. Rwanda's fear was that they could return and upset the country's hard -to -win stability.

But Kabila failed to prevent the fighters from organizing, and he also began to force Rwandan troops.

As a result, Rwanda invaded Dr. Congo in 1998, when Macken was released from prison, he was appointed to serve as commander of the front line with Rwanda-backed rebel group.

Over the years, he has gained a reputation for being highly strategic and qualified in the command of large groups of soldiers in battle.

After the Rwandan troops passed to Congo, there was a leap of discrimination against the Tutsi community. Kabila claims that Tutsis supports the invasion while other employees instigate the public to attack members of the ethnic group.

Makenga – Still in Congo – accused the Congoan leader of passing on Tutsi fighters, saying, “Kabila was a politician until I was. I am a soldier and the language I know is the gun.”

Several neighboring countries were attracted to the conflict and a large UN military force was deployed to try to maintain order.

It is estimated that more than five million people have died in the war and its consequences – the most of hunger or illness.

The fight officially ended in 2003, but Mackenga continued to serve in armed groups opposed to the Congoan government.

In the spirit of reconciliation, the rebels of Tutsi like Mackeng were eventually united in the armed forces of the Congo government, in a process called “Mix”.

But the political sands in the Congo are always shifted – Mackenga is eventually defective by the army to join the growing M23 rebellion.

The M23 was becoming increasingly active in the east of the Congo, stating that they were fighting to protect Tutsi's rights and that the government failed to honor the peace deal signed in 2009.

Macken was promoted to the rank of General M23, then shortly after, the upper position.

In November 2012, he led the rebels in a brutal uprising, in which they conquered the city of Goma, a major eastern city with a population of over a million.

Congo and the UN have accused the government dominated by Tutsi in Rwanda for supporting the M23, a claim that he stubbornly denied. But the official answer has recently shifted, with government speakers saying that fighting near its limit is a threat to security.

Until 2012, Macken and others in the M23 faced charges in serious war crimes. The United States has imposed sanctions on it, saying that he is responsible for “recruiting children's soldiers and civilian violence campaigns.” Mackena said allegations that the M23 used children's soldiers were “unfounded”.

Elsewhere, the UN said he had committed and was responsible for actions such as murder and mutilation, sexual abuse and abduction.

Along with the freezing of assets, Mackeng was facing a bitter cleavage within the M23. One side supported him as a leader while the other supported his opponent, Gen Bosco NtagandaS

Sufficient projectA non-profit group working in Dr. Congo said the two factions were descending into a “full-fledged war” in 2013, and as a result, three soldiers and eight civilians were killed.

Mackenga's country triumphed and Gen Ntaganda fled to Rwanda, where he surrendered to the US Embassy.

A nickname “Terminator” for his ruthlessness, Gen Nteganda was Eventually convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of 30 years for war crimesS

However, months after Mackenga's triumph, another, more threat appeared. The UN had deployed the 3,000 strong powers with a mandate to support the Congojan military in the restoration of Goma, prompting the M23 to withdraw.

The rebel group was expelled from the country, and Mackena fled to Uganda, a country that was also accused of supporting the M23, a claim it denied.

Uganda received a request for an extradition for Macken from D -R Congo, but did not act on it.

Eight years have passed. Dozens of other armed groups traveled to the East-rich east, destroying the defeat, but the Congoan authorities were free from the most famous fighters.

That is, by 2021

Mackenga and his rebels again took up a weapon, taking over the territory in the province of North Kivu.

Several terminations between the M23 and Congoan authorities failed, and last year, a judge condemned Macken to death.

During the last advance of the M23, which says that the rebels were supported by thousands of Rwandan troops, Mackenga was almost not watched in public.

Instead, he leaves the public speeches and statements from his speaker, and Cornei Nanga, who heads an alliance of rebel groups, including M23.

But Makenga remains a key player, seems to focus on the behind -the -scenes strategy.

He said his ruthless battles were for his three children, “so one day they will have a better future in this country.”

“It should not be perceived as a person who does not want peace. I have a heart, family and people who interest me,” he said.

But millions of ordinary people pay the price of this conflict, and if it is captured by the Congojan forces, Mackenga faces the death penalty.

Yes, he is uncertain.

“I'm ready to sacrifice everything,” he said.