Army Confirms Latest Rebel Attack In Western Rwanda, No Civilians Killed Or Injured

A delegation of local and military officials have toured Bweyeye sector in Rusizi district to calm the local population, a week after a group claimed it had attacked the region.

Last weekend, photos and text were posted on Facebook of a supposed attack by FLN rebels. They displayed military uniforms, ID cards and small cache of arms – all items the group claims were got from RDF detachment which had been overrun.

There has been no official confirmation of the incident until now. The remoteness of the region also means no news could filter through to media.

This Thursday, RDF 2nd Division Commander Maj Gen Alexis Kagame and Western Province Governor Alphonse Munyentwari led a delegation to Bweyeye sector. They held meeting with local population.

Maj Gen Kagame, without naming any specific group, said the attackers were intercepted by the military before they could reach any areas inhabited by local civilian population. No one was killed or injured and they also abandoned the food they had looted, said Kagame.

He said the group had come from a “neighboring country”, which he didn’t name.

“They came from a neighboring country via Lake Kivu through Nyamasheke district ending up in Nyungwe forest [national park),” said the military officer.

He said the rebels were not able to reach population zones as they were being pursued by RDF, reason why no civilians were affected.

Gen Kagame and Governor Munyentwari called on the population to continue being vigilant and report any suspicious activities.

Rusizi district and Nyamasheke district are both in region covered by Nyungwe forest, also neighboring Burundi and DR Congo. FLN rebels, based in South Kivu, are said to be regularly trekking from Congo, via Burundi into Rwanda through Nyungwe forest.

FLN is the military wing of a political group led by Hotel Rwanda movie personality Paul Rusesabagina and ex-prime minister Faustin Twagiramungu, both exiled in U.S and Belgium respectively.

In a press conference convened in Brussels last week, Twagiramungu said FLN needs recruits and called on every Rwandan to join, to oust the government of President Kagame, whom he accuses of all sorts of crimes.

FLN spokesman and one of its founders Nsabimana Callixte alias Maj Sankara was captured from India ocean islands of Comoros and handed to Rwanda. He was brought to court, but its now past the month for which he was to be help in preventive custody. His trial has yet to start.