Rutshuru is a town located in the

North Kivu North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...

province of the eastern

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, and is headquarters of an administrative district, the Rutshuru Territory. The town lies in the western branch of the

Albertine Rift The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tan ...

between Lakes Edward and

Kivu Kivu is the name for a large region in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo that borders Lake Kivu. It was a ''Région'' (read 'province') of the country under the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko from 1966 to 1988. As an official ''Région'' ...

. The

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n border is 15 km east and the

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

n border is 30 km south-east. Lava flows from the

Nyamuragira Nyamuragira, also known as Nyamulagira, is an active shield volcano in the Virunga Mountains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, situated about north of Lake Kivu. The name is derived from Bantu languages in the region, ''Kuragira nyamu'' ...

volcano, 40 km south-west, have come within 7 km of the town in recent years. The town has over 800,000 inhabitants from many tribal backgrounds Nande, hunde and Pygmee. It was the largest town controlled by the former National Congress for the Defence of the People rebel group. By November 2012, the town had become a stronghold of the

March 23 Movement The March 23 Movement (), often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army (), is a Congolese Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary group. Based in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it operates ...

in their conflict with the Congolese government. After the defeat of the M23 rebellion the town was retaken by the Congolese army, and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician and former military officer who served as the fourth President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination o ...

paid a visit to the town in November 2013 after driving from

Kisangani Kisangani (), formerly Stanleyville (), is the capital of Tshopo, Tshopo Province, located on the Congo River in the eastern part of the central Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the country's fifth-most populous urban a ...

. As part of M23's resurgence the group recaptured Rutshuru in October 2022.

Rwandan Genocide and Congo Wars

Rutshuru patrol PHOTO DU JOUR DU LUNDI 17 JANVIER 2022

Rutshuru has a Rwandan population largely from the Rwandan Revolution in 1959 and the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

where large numbers of Rwandan Hutu refugees were housed in camps there. The

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second Congo War The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted ...

s saw substantial fighting in the district involving Ugandan, Rwandan and Congolese forces of various factions. Since the official end of the war in 2002/3, fighting has periodically erupted between militias allied to the Hutu and Tutsi. The town has been occupied by proxy forces linked to Rwandan president

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame ( ; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who has been the President of Rwanda since 2000. He was previously a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel armed force which invaded ...

and—since the start of the Rwandan genocide—has been the focal point of troubles between Tutsi and Hutu with stakes in Rwanda. Rutshuru, like most of the DR Congo eastern region, is a town of collateral damage from infighting between Rwandan proxies and the government forces.

Mining

The Lueshe mine is located in the Territoire de Rutshuru, north of Rutshuru town, exploiting one of the world's biggest reserves of

pyrochlore Pyrochlore () is a mineral group of the niobium end member of the pyrochlore supergroup. Pyrochlore is also a term for the crystal structure ''F''dm. The name is from the Greek , ''fire'', and , ''green'' because it typically turns green on ignit ...

, an ore of

niobium Niobium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Nb (formerly columbium, Cb) and atomic number 41. It is a light grey, crystalline, and Ductility, ductile transition metal. Pure niobium has a Mohs scale of mineral hardness, Mohs h ...

. It is said to be the most valuable mineral resource of the eastern Congo but the mine has been officially closed for some years due to disputes over ownership of mining rights, the instability of the region, and the need to rehabilitate the mining equipment. Smuggling of pyrochlore by rebels under Laurent Nkunda is said to take place across the border into Rwanda.David Barouski: "'Blood Minerals' in the Kivu Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo."
''Z Magazine online'', (www.zmag.org), June 1, 2007. There are approximately 15

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

mining sites in and around Rutshuru.

Features and attractions

* Rutshuru Falls * May-Ya-Moto volcano and

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

s, 32 km north-north-west *

Virunga National Park Virunga National Park is a national park in the Albertine Rift Valley in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was created in 1925. In elevation, it ranges from in the Semliki River valley to in the Rwenzori Mountains. ...

* Lake Kirwa, a small crater lake 10 km south-west

Rwandan Genocide and Congo Wars

Mining

Features and attractions

References

Further reading