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BURUNDI-RWANDA-UNREST-ARMY,LEAD
Gunmen ambush Burundian soldiers: defence ministry
NAIROBI, Nov 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Burundian soldiers were attacked in a
night jungle ambush near the border with Rwanda, Burundi’s defence ministry
said, with military sources on Tuesday reporting at least eight soldiers’
deaths.
Dozens more soldiers were missing in the ambush on their base, one of
largest and deadliest attacks for several years, senior army officers said
Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“A group armed with rifles from Rwanda attacked a position of Burundian
soldiers on Mount Twinyoni,” defence ministry spokesman Major Emmanuel
Gahongano said on state television on Monday. “This armed group has withdrawn
to Rwanda.”
He did not give details of casualties or the identity of the attackers.
Burundi has been in crisis since President Pierre Nkurunziza defied
constitutional limits to seek a third term in office, winning re-election in
2015.
Burundi has repeatedly accused neighbouring Rwanda of supporting rebel
groups in its territory, a claim Kigali denies.
Rwanda on Tuesday denied any role in the attack.
“It is not true that the attacks were made from people who came from
Rwanda,” Olivier Nduhungirehe, State Minister for Regional Affairs, told AFP.
“These are unfounded allegations being made from Burundi — as they have
done previously for the last four years. We have other things to do.”
The attack, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of the capital Bujumbura,
in thick forests 10 kilometres from the Rwandan border, took place in the
early hours of Sunday morning.
Around 90 soldiers were reported to be in the base before the attack.
But when reinforcements arrived hours later, they found only the bodies of
eight comrades, including of the company commander, a senior officer told
AFP.
Later, 15 soldiers were found alive, some of them wounded.
“The rest of the company is still missing,” the officer said. Their fate
is unknown. The military source reported that attackers were well-equipped.
“Our soldiers were surprised by assailants wearing bullet-proof vests and
night-vision goggles, which completely wiped out the position,” the officer
said, a report confirmed by two other military sources.
“We believe that it is not mere rebels who are responsible for it.”
No Burundian armed group has claimed responsibility.
BSS/AFP/RY/1815 hrs