KIGALI, Rwanda
At least
15 people were killed when gunmen attacked an area in southern Burundi, three
local witnesses told Reuters on Monday.
It was unclear whether the dead
were members of the security forces, civilians or the attackers. The witnesses
asked not to be named for fear of repercussions.
The
fighting in Bugarama district in Rumonge province began on Sunday and continued
into Monday and people were hiding in the bush, a resident who escaped the
attack told Reuters.
“The
gunmen kidnapped everyone they met and killed them before engaging in fighting
with the army on Sunday morning,” the man said. He asked for anonymity to avoid
reprisals.
A senior
government official said the attack, which occurred as the country was holding
local elections, was not unexpected and potentially linked to the imminent
repatriation of refugees from Rwanda.
“The
government anticipated that armed groups opposed to the government will attempt
to carry out attacks ahead of the first repatriation of refugees from Rwanda,”
the official said.
Rwanda
hosts thousands of refugees from neighbouring Burundi who fled violence in 2015.
A message
posted on Twitter claiming to be from Red Tabara, a Burundian rebel group that
says it is based in Congo’s South Kivu region, claimed responsibility for the
attack and said it had “neutralized” nine policemen and about 20 militants. The
veracity of the account or the message could not be verified.
The
statement on Twitter said presidential elections in May, won by the ruling
party’s candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye, were “a farce” and called for a new
vote.
The
statement also called for the disarmament of several militia groups such as the
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a group founded by Hutu
officials who fled Rwanda after orchestrating the 1994 genocide, which it
claims has infiltrated security forces in Burundi.
The army
did not respond to requests for comment on the fighting.
Burundi
has an ethnic Hutu majority and Tutsi minority, the same split as in Rwanda.
It has been plagued by decades of ethnic and political violence, including a bloody civil war which lasted 12 years in which 300,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
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