Reaching out to the enemy 'terrifying'

As his comrades died of starvation and thirst around him, Mbale Hafashimana Amos finally decided to flee the Congolese bush for a country he had always been told would butcher him on arrival.

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Mbale, an ethnic Hutu, was part of a militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Called the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), it was initially formed by those who fled across the border after committing the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

But the FDLR has been pushed to the brink of annihilation this year as a Rwanda-backed armed group, the M23, seized large parts of the region.

By April, “M23 pushed us to a place where we couldn't get anything to eat,” said Mbale, 37.

“I saw over 150 soldiers die of starvation and dehydration. It was horrifying.”