Rebel attack in western Burundi kills at least 20
Al Jazeera
It is the second attack in two weeks by the RED-Tabara rebels, who have been largely inactive inside Burundi since 2021.
Gunmen have killed at least 20 people and wounded nine others near Burundi’s western border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), an official has told reporters.
Those killed in the Friday evening raid on the town of Vugizo included 12 children, two pregnant women and a police officer, government spokesperson Jérôme Niyonzima said on Saturday.
The attack was claimed by the RED-Tabara rebel group, considered a “terrorist” group by the Burundian authorities.
The attack targeted nine homes in the town, close to the Lake Tanganyika border with the DRC. At least nine others wounded in the attack have been hospitalised.
The RED-Tabara rebel group, which has been battling Burundi’s government from bases in the eastern DRC since 2015, claimed on the social media platform X to have killed nine soldiers and one police officer.
