Residents of Kaburantwa in Buganda zone reported that late last week, they saw at least 30 trucks transporting Burundian troops and members of the Imbonerakure youth wing, affiliated with the ruling CNDD-FDD party, crossing a bridge currently being rehabilitated by a Chinese company.
The Imbonerakure deployed to the DRC are said to have been trained jointly by Burundian soldiers. Observers of Burundi's security dynamics confirm that among their trainers was the FDLR, a terrorist militia founded by individuals who took part in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The forces are heading towards mountainous areas such as Minembwe, where they operate alongside the Congolese army, the FDLR and the Wazalendo militia in launching attacks against the Banyamulenge community and fighting rival groups such as MRDP-Twirwaneho.
On September 1, Corneille Nangaa, the leader of the AFC/M23 coalition, told journalists that more than 12,000 fightersâ€"including Burundian troops, Imbonerakure, FDLR, and Wazalendoâ€"had been deployed in the mountains of South Kivu in preparation for major offensives.
Congolese politician Moïse Nyarugabo, a former Member of Parliament, explained that Burundian troops stationed in the mountains number over 10,000.
'They have established camps, dug trenches… they are fighting, but I don't know exactly whom they are waiting to confront," he said.
Burundian forces have been openly operating in South Kivu Province since 2022, after Burundi and the DRC signed a military cooperation agreement.
The agreement was renewed in August 2023, with both governments agreeing that their armies would jointly fight the AFC/M23 coalition in North Kivu Province. However, the deployment there ended unfavourably for the Burundians, who were driven out of all the areas they once controlled in Masisi territory.
IGIHE
