Rebel attack in Burundi leaves 20 dead, says government

Twenty people, 19 of them civilians, were killed in an attack in the west Burundithe government said on Saturday, while the RED-Tabara rebel group that claimed responsibility for the operation said it had killed ten members of this country’s security forces. Africa Eastern.

The confrontation took place on Friday night in the city of Vugizoapproximately 20 km from Bujumburaeconomic capital and border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the fighters of that insurgent organization have their rear bases.

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O RED-Tabara (Resistance for the rule of law in Burundi) are the main armed group opposing the regime led by Evariste Ndayishimiye.

The government assured in a statement that “cowardly attack“targeted civilians and left 20 dead, “among them 12 children, five of whom were under 5 years old; three women, two of them pregnant; there are already five men, including a police officer who was trying to help civilians”.

The incursion also left nine injured, according to the official statement, which criticizes a “terrorist, abominable and barbaric action”.

O RED-Tabara In turn, they indicated on the social network “fighters (…) based on Burundi They attacked the border post Vugizo”, eliminating “nine soldiers and a policeman.”

Military and security sources told AFP that the attack was initially directed against “a military position”.

But “There were civilians who found themselves between two fires and died, before the fighters retreated to the DRC”said a Burundian official who requested anonymity and confirmed a total death toll of 20.

The group RED-Tabaracreated in 2011, has between 500 and 800 fighters, and since 2015, most attacks and ambushes in Burundi have been attributed to him.

Evariste Ndayishimiyewho assumed power after the death of the president Pierre Nkurunziza In June 2020, he said on several occasions that he was willing to “dialogue” with the insurgent groups.

But RED-Tabara indicated in a statement on November 13 that it ruled out any negotiation without the organization of “democratic, free, inclusive and transparent elections”.

Source: Elcomercio

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