Twenty people, including 19 civilians, were killed in western Burundi, the government announced on Saturday, in an attack claimed by the RED-Tabara rebel group, which in turn claimed to have killed ten members of the security forces.
The attack was carried out on Friday evening in the locality of Vugizo, some twenty kilometers from the economic capital Bujumbura and bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the country where the rear base of RED-Tabara (Resistance pour un Etat de Droit au Burundi), the main armed group fighting the regime led by Evariste Ndayishimiye, is located.
In a statement, the government claims that this “cowardly attack” deliberately targeted civilians, killing a total of 20 people, including “12 children, including five under the age of five; three women, two of whom were pregnant; and five men, including one of the police officers who intervened to rescue the civilians”.
Nine others were wounded and hospitalized, the government added, condemning a “despicable and barbaric act of terrorism”.
The RED-Tabara group claimed that its “fighters (…) based in Burundi attacked the Vugizo border post” and that “9 soldiers and 1 policeman were killed”, in a message on “X” (ex-Twitter).
Two military and security sources said the attack had targeted a “military position”.
“Civilians were caught in the crossfire and killed, then the attackers retreated into the DRC”, explained a senior army officer, who requested anonymity, confirming a death toll of 20.