Reports from Burundi last week indicate that an attack by a militia group in the western part of the country claimed at least 20 people.

Those killed in the attack that took place on the border town of Vugizo included 12 children, two pregnant women and a police officer. The attack occurred just two days to Christmas Day.

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It targeted at least nine homes in the town, close to the Lake Tanganyika border with the DRC.

It has since been claimed by RED-Tabara, a rebel group that is based in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Another attack that occurred on Christmas Day claimed at least three lives, took place in a remote village in Western Uganda, which was perpetrated by Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan terrorist group also based in eastern DR Congo.

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The attacled village is located in Kamwenge district, which had witnessed another attack a week earlier during which at least 10 people were killed and burnt.

The common denominator here is the fertile ground for militia groups that has been created in eastern DR Congo where at least 120 - both local and foreign - have found a safe haven.

They target Congolese as much as it's neighbours. For instance, Rwanda has the FDLR that has over the past 30 years made incursions into Rwanda killing civilians and looting or destroying their property.

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Such attacks are a reminder that a chaotic DR Congo is as a danger to the people of DRC as it is to those of the neighbouring countries.

As the leadership of DR Congo continues to scuttle all efforts geared at bringing peace in this volatile region, they must be reminded that they are not the sole beneficiary of a pacified country.

The East African Community must assume its role and implore Congo to embrace and stick to the region-led peace processes of Nairobi and Luanda.