Burundian and FDLR forces clash in Kibira, according to reports

There have apparently been battles between the Imbonerakure militia, the Burundi National Defense Force (FDNB), and the FDLR in Kibira, Bukinanyana Commune in northwest Burundi.

The FDLR’s attempt to get food from the local population in the specific Butahana neighborhoods where certain government, military, and police officials are allegedly housing and feeding the militia, in addition to providing them with weapons, is said to have been the catalyst for the conflicts, which erupted from March 11 to 13.

According to the sources, the Burundian army is attempting to push the FDLR, a group connected to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi, to return its land to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As part of the Congolese government coalition, thousands of Burundian soldiers have fought alongside the FDLR in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo against the AFC/M23 insurgents.

Rwanda has long criticized the FDLR as a threat to regional security. The FDLR, a UN-designated terror group, was established by survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and has been working with Burundian and Congolese government forces in eastern DR Congo.

The clashes were reported during a period when Rwanda and Burundi were working to normalize their diplomatic ties, which had been impacted by Burundi’s support for the FDLR, which has battled Rwanda for the previous 20 years, and the DR Congo’s threats to overthrow its government.