Byumba — The Rwandan army has deployed heavily near the Ugandan border in anticipation of an attack by the Interahamwe. Interahamwe are a militia allied to the former Rwandan army that executed the 1994 genocide in which claimed about one million Tutsi and moderate Hutu.

They fled to the DR Congo after the collapse of the Juvenal Habyarimana regime in 1994. Rwandan brigade commander for Byumba and Mutara provinces, Col. Eric Murokore, confirmed the deployment while meeting Ugandan local leaders at the weekend at Rwanda's Gatuna border post. He met leaders of Uganda's sub-counties, which border Rwanda near Gatuna.

He said the Interahamwe attempted to attack Rwanda through Butaro and Ruhengeri recently, which prompted the army deployment. "These militiamen disappeared in the Virunga mountain ranges and that's where we suspect that they could be hiding. As Rwandan army we request you the local council leaders to help us and identify the whereabouts of these people," Murokore urged the Ugandan leaders.

"I am not saying that these militiamen are being sheltered by the Ugandan government but they are taking the advantage of the mountain ranges and the thick bamboo forest there," he added.

The Byumba authorities had invited the Ugandan leaders and the Kabale resident district commissioner to discuss the surge in smuggling and the general security situation on the common border.

Murokore requested them to hand over any suspected Interahamwe militia in their sub-counties. Kabale RDC James Mwesigye said that whoever is against Rwanda is against Uganda. He pledged to deny Interahamwe sanctuary in Kabale.