7 September 2007
Bujumbura — Thousands of people fled Buterere and nearby quarters on Wednesday afternoon after rumours of imminent retaliations were spread.
This new wave of internal displacement of those living in the northern quarters of Bujumbura follows escalating insecurity caused by the fighting of FNL-PALIPEHUTU factions.
Those who fled fear retaliation after 20 dissidents were killed in a raid that was carried out by combatants loyal to Agathon Rwasa on Tuesday morning. The inhabitants indicate that a battalion of dissidents that was stationed in The Democratic Republic of Congo has crossed the border into Buterere in order to reinforce their position and to avenge the killing of 20 of their co-combatants. This information, however, has not yet been confirmed. In the meantime, one person was killed Wednesday night by robbers in the Bukirasazi quarter of Kinama commune which borders on Buterere.
Various sources have indicated that the members of this battalion were not in reality dissidents of FNL-Palipehutu but a battalion of CNDD-FDD that was stationed in The Democratic Republic of Congo to intervene in case of the resumption of war in Burundi. The spokesman of the dissidents is an inhabitant of the Bwiza quarter in the centre of Bujumbura. The bulk of the so-called dissidents are also from different parts of Bujumbura.
This escalation of violence is, however, considered to be a fabrication of the current government which is perceived to be attempting to annihilate the FNL movement for the third time. In 2003, shortly after the ceasefire agreement, CNDD-FDD combatants began a hunt for FNL combatants starting in Bujumbura-Rural. In 2005, another wing of FNL, led by Jean-Bosco Sindayigaya, emerged with the support of the ruling party.
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