A senior member of Rwanda’s Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) was arrested in a church while attending his child’s baptism, the group’s spokesperson has said.

Col Augustin Nshimiyimana was captured in DR Congo’s North Kivu province.

He was the groups’s deputy head of intelligence between 2011 and 2019.

Col Nshimiyimana was taken last week by armed men in civilian attire in Masisi Territory, the FDLR’s Cure Ngoma told the BBC.

Mr Ngoma says they believe this operation was carried out by Rwandan forces in disguise and co-operation with DR Congo’s army.

Rwandan authorities have denied presence of Rwandan troops on Congolese soil.

The North Kivu and Ituri province are currently under martial law to allow the army to stop violence and hunt on rebel movements in the region.

Mr Ngoma believes the “state of siege” in the provinces is “a new battle” that their group “shall survive”.

In DR Congo, the FDLR has been accused of recruiting child soldiers, rape and systematic looting, while Rwandan government accuse its members of role in 1994 genocide.

The FDLR spokesperson refute the allegations saying that they want change in Rwanda through negotiations, what the Rwandan side has called “impossible”.