The government of Rwanda has dismissed allegations by Burundi’s President Évariste Ndayishimiye, that the country is supporting a Burundian rebel group that perpetrated a terror attack at a border village recently.
The Rwandan Government in a statement on Saturday, December 30, denied any affiliation with the alleged Burundian armed group. The statement also urged Burundi to follow diplomatic routes to address all grievances.
“Rwanda is not associated, in any way, with any Burundian armed group.
“It should be recalled that, in the spirit of mutual cooperation, Rwanda has previously handed over, through the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism, Burundian combatants who illegally crossed into Rwanda,” the statement read.
On Friday, December 29, the Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye claimed Rwanda was sponsoring and training a Burundian armed rebel group known as RED-Tabara.
Last week, the group took responsibility for the killing of ten security personnel – nine soldiers and a police officer – in the Gatumba village terror attack.
According to President Ndayishimiye who spoke in a national radio broadcast, the terror group is “fed, sheltered, hosted and maintained in terms of logistics and financial means by Rwanda.” He added that Rwanda has been adamant about extraditing the rebels.
“As long as they have a country that provides them with uniforms, feeds them, protects them, shelters them, maintains them, we will have problems,” he said.
Relations between the two neighboring countries have been strained for years, especially with the coming to power of Ndayishimive.
RED-Tabara was created in 2011, and is based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The group has been accused of perpetrating all kinds of terror attacks on the region.
