The Democratic Republic of Congo's armed forces will arrest soldiers who try to contact the FDLR armed group, Congolese army spokesman General Sylvain Ekenge said in a video statement.
"The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo establishes strict and unfailing ban for all soldiers, regardless of their rank for tying to maintain any contact or associate with FDLR militia. Any offender will be arrested and will suffer the rigor of the law," he stated.
According to the general, there will be "zero tolerance" for offenders.
Members of the Congolese army have been accused of collaborating with FDLR fighters against the M23 movement in the eastern part of the nation, according to reports.
The FDLR, an ethnic Hutu armed group, was proscribed by the United Nations in 2012 as "the largest illegal foreign armed group operating in the DRC," formed by members of the Rwandan army who were ousted in 1994 after the civil war where the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front took the power of the country.
M23 is a movement that has been active by fighting for the interests of the Tutsi ethnic minority in DR Congo since 2012. According to UN experts quoted by the media, they have since seized entire areas of North Kivu, a province bordering Rwanda and Uganda.
The armed conflict and insecurity have been the primary causes of the extensive and long-term displacement in the region, according to the UN. Over 120 armed groups are reported to be operating in large parts of eastern DR Congo.
In June 2022, the leaders of East Africa agreed to create a regional force to help end the conflict in the eastern part of the country.