Rwanda faces fresh allegations that its soldiers are fighting in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo alongside the Bosco Ntaganda-led M23 Congolese rebels, who are currently causing mayhem in the Kivu region.

The international watchdog organisation Human Rights Watch claims that the Rwanda army has provided up to 300 fighters and offered weaponry to the rebels.

As the allegations fly, President Paul Kagame’s government is in a fix. Sources in the Rwanda military who spoke to Rwanda Today said Kigali will have to respond robustly to the allegations to retain its international credibility.

Simply issuing outraged denials is not enough. This is because Rwanda has a lot to lose, with its international credibility as a peace-builder now in question.

Its relations with the DRC — which have been improving in the recent past — are also at stake. Relations between the two nations have long been considered key to stabilising the shaky region, which harbours perhaps the largest population of militias in the world.

READ: DRC rebels target Congolese of Rwandese origin for recruitment

Analysts and government officials said while Kigali is putting a brave face on its ties with Kinshasa, its giant neighbour is currently generating Rwanda’s biggest political headache.

“The reality is that people are dying. Rwanda has no choice but to respond to the allegations,” said a source within the military.

“There is a feeling within the international community that Rwanda is an impediment to its access to the vast resources in DRC. So the allegations are aimed at clipping Rwanda’s wings.”

While government officials have over the past two weeks been on the defensive, rubbishing the claims, the worry is that the allegations are tainting Rwanda’s image abroad and could provide a fresh opportunity for the scattered elements of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda to (FDLR) to regroup in Congo.

READ: US ‘concerned’ about M23, silent on Rwanda role

The FDLR — which is composed of remnants of the Interahamwe who carried out the 1994 genocide and the former Rwandan army of president Juvenal Habyarimana — had been weakened following two offensives by the Rwandan army and the Democratic Republic of Congo army three years ago.

In January 2009, the political landscape changed dramatically in eastern Congo. Congolese President Joseph Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame struck a deal to rid each other of their enemies.

Rwanda put a stop to the rebellion of the Congolese Tutsi-led National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) by arresting its leader, Laurent Nkunda, and forcing its fighters to integrate into the Congolese army.

In exchange, the Congolese government agreed that Rwandan soldiers could enter eastern Congo for five weeks of joint military operations against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan Hutu rebel group, some of whose leaders had participated in the 1994 genocide.

Operation Umoja Wetu (our unity) took place between January and February 2009 and another code-named Amani Leo (peace today) was launched in April the same year.

Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo last week warned against “reckless interference” by non-state actors in the region.

“We will not fall for these provocations and so-called leaked reports designed to inflame tension and create conflict. Rwanda and the DRC have been working closely to resolve the situation in eastern Congo,” Ms Mushikiwabo said.

“Rwanda has maintained from the outset that the current instability in the eastern DRC is a matter for the Congolese government and military,” added Ms Mushikiwabo, accusing the UN mission in eastern DRC, Monusco, of failing to carry out its original mandate.

Apart from the joint military operations, Rwanda and the DRC have also established an information sharing system called “Joint Verification Mechanism” to help track and manage people crossing the common border.

The allegations come in the wake of violent clashes in North and South Kivu provinces and in the Ituri district of north-eastern Congo between the Congolese army and soldiers loyal to the rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International Criminal court for war crimes.

The recent clashes have forced thousands of Congolese to flee into Rwanda from the fierce fighting, with over 6,000 refugees received in Rwanda as of last week.

Rwanda has on several occasions over the past five years been caught in the mire in the DRC and the new reports, analysts said, created new suspicions of the country’s involvement in the crisis there.

Since the new fighting broke out between government forces and the mutineering soldiers under M23, Rwanda has been involved in talks with Kinshasa aimed at finding an “amicable” solution to the crisis.

The matter is expected to be tabled in parliament attention in the coming days, with MP Gideon Kayinamura, who heads the foreign affairs committee in the lower chamber of parliament, saying Rwanda is being used by HRW and UN as a scapegoat in a much bigger problem the DRC is facing.