A local official in Burundi’s northwestern province of Cibitoke has expressed concern over a security threat posed by Rwandan Hutu militiamen, known as Interahamwe, who have staged raids in the province in the last month, looting property in two communes. “Interahamwe militias have been hiding in the Kibira forest neighbouring the communes of Mabayi and Bukinanyana for about a month now,” Benoit Ntigurirwa, the Cibitoke governor, told IRIN on Wednesday. The Interahamwe fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cibitoke Province is on the border with the DRC and Rwanda. “We don’t have their exact number but from the intelligence reports we gathered, those who have been raiding the communes might be around 150,” Ntigurirwa said. He added that some 40 to 45 militiamen had been reported in Mabayi Commune, about 100 km north of the capital, Bujumbura, and another 100 in Bukinanyana Commune. Full Story
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