France has rejected claims that it has deployed combat troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo, insisting that its military presence in the country is limited to training Congolese forces under a long-standing cooperation agreement.

The clarification follows the circulation of a photograph that appeared to show French soldiers in the northeastern city of Kisangani, sparking speculation on social media that Paris had quietly sent troops to bolster Congolese operations. The French embassy in Kinshasa moved quickly to counter those claims, describing the image as evidence of a training mission rather than a combat deployment.

According to the embassy, French army instructors are working with units of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, known as FARDC, under a bilateral defence cooperation framework that has been in place since 2022. The programme is officially focused on capacity-building, particularly for jungle battalions that operate in some of the country’s most challenging terrain.

Kisangani, where the photo was reportedly taken, has become a strategic hub for the Congolese military. The city hosts key drone operations and logistics infrastructure that support FARDC deployments across the country’s troubled east, where multiple armed groups continue to operate despite years of regional and international interventions.

French officials stress that their personnel are not engaged in frontline operations and that their mandate is confined to training, advising and sharing expertise in areas such as jungle warfare, logistics and operational planning. The current phase of the mission is expected to run until the end of next month, with both governments portraying it as part of a broader effort to professionalise the Congolese army.

France is not the only foreign partner involved in strengthening FARDC. Belgian forces are also training Congolese soldiers under the European Peace Facility, the European Union’s instrument for supporting security and defence initiatives in fragile regions.

In parallel, United Nations peacekeepers from MONUSCO have been running their own training programmes. More than 1,000 FARDC soldiers received instruction from UN contingents last year, with courses focused on protecting civilians and countering armed groups in the conflict-affected provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

Together, these overlapping initiatives underscore the extent to which the Congolese army relies on foreign partners for skills, equipment and mentoring, even as Kinshasa seeks to assert greater control over its security agenda and reassure a population weary of protracted violence.