Rwanda’s diplomatic officials are still waiting for explanations from authorities in Bujumbura and immediate action to apprehend a group of armed elements who attacked a village in the Southern Province district of Nyaruguru last month, a diplomatic source said Sunday.
The diplomatic correspondence by officials in Kigali comes after a group of armed men from Burundi attacked on Saturday, June 27 a village in Nyaruguru District, leaving three Rwanda soldiers with minor injuries, while four militias were killed.
Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) said it repulsed the group of armed assailants where by four of the attackers were killed.
Following the attack, Rwandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation has officially written to the Burundian government through diplomatic channels seeking explanations and calling for the arrest of the armed group.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Rwanda wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Burundi requesting for an explanation regarding the attack by unidentified attackers from Burundi and urged the Government of Burundi to take all necessary measures so that those guilty of that criminal act, who withdrew to Burundi, be quickly arrested and brought to justice or extradited to Rwanda so they can answer for their actions,” the statement said.
Although Burundian army, National Defense Force of Burundi (FDNB) issued a separate statement seemingly denying the attacks, the government in Bujumbura is yet to respond to their Rwandan counterparts using official channels, it said.
Although the Burundian authorities have been accusing Rwanda of cross border aggression, officials in Kigali say Bujumbura was likely laying a diversionary game because the real issue is, there were attacks against Rwanda in the past month around Nyungwe forest (South)and those attacks were coming from Burundi.
CU/abj/APA