DR Congo crisis: Twirwaneho warns Burundian army over genocidal attacks against Banyamulenge

The Banyamulenge civil self-defence group, Twirwaneho, which is now part of the the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC/M23) rebellion in eastern DR Congo, on April 17 issued a warning over the involvement of the Burundian army in a genocidal coalition targeting its community in South Kivu Province. ALSO READ: DR Congo crisis: Unarmed Banyamulenge civilians ‘still waking up under bomb explosions’ ALSO READ: Banyamulenge villages in South Kivu attacked again “For almost two weeks, the Minembwe region has been the victim of a new series of genocidal attacks, led and coordinated by the Congolese army (FARDC), and Wazalendo coalition. Another major player joined this deadly coalition: the Burundian army (FDNB) in Kabanju and Babengwa,” the group said in a statement posted on X. “These Burundian troops carried out deadly attacks on April 12, against the population returned to their villages of Rugezi, Kabanju and its surroundings, in repeated and simultaneous offensives against Banyamulenge,” the group stated, adding that despite the attacks, they were able to defend their communities. ALSO READ: Kabila urges South Africa not to support Tshisekedi’s ‘tyrannical regime’ As noted, Twirwaneho fighters repulsed and “pursued the enemy far away, into its entrenchment zone at Rugezi and Mutambala, more precisely at Mulima.” According to Twirwaneho, the Burundian army had, since 2022, refrained from participating in the ongoing conflict in the region, including massacres carried out against the Banyamulenge by Wazalendo militias supported by the Congolese army. ALSO READ: Kabila: DR Congo should stop blame games and fix its problems “By choosing to ally itself with the Mai-Mai genocidaires (Wazalendo), the Burundian army has established itself as one of the major players in the ethnic cleansing of the Banyamulenge, carried out without hindrance for 8 years by a so-called ‘loyalist’ army which, however, should have the sovereign mission of protecting the population and its property, without discrimination.” ALSO READ: SADC requests troops’ safe passage from eastern DR Congo through Rwanda Twirwaneho condemned the actions and demanded an immediate end of the Burundian army’s involvement in the genocidal violence. The group emphasized that continued participation would carry serious consequences. It also urged the international community and regional actors to stop such genocidal acts by the Burundian government, and to support peace efforts. A vast Congolese army coalition backed by Western countries including Belgium and comprising the Rwandan genocidal militia, FDLR, and Burundian forces have worsened the security situation in eastern DR Congo while battling the AFC/M23 rebellion. Led by Corneille Nangaa, the former chairman of the Congolese national electoral commission, Alliance Fleuve Congo is fighting for governance that supports basic human rights, secures all Congolese citizens, and addresses the root causes of conflict. The rebellion has vowed to uproot tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and the genocide ideology spread by FDLR, among other vices, widespread in DR Congo. Entertaining or legitimizing the FDLR, a DR Congo-based militia formed by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda –even tacitly, prolongs the conflict in eastern DR Congo and destabilizes the region further, Robert Kayinamura, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Rwanda at the UN, stressed on April 16 during the Security Council meeting on the Peace, Security, and Cooperation Framework (PSCF).

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DR Congo crisis: Twirwaneho warns Burundian army over genocidal attacks against Banyamulenge