The attack took place on Saturday around 2 a.m. According to a statement from the Rwandan defense forces, around 100 men armed with machine guns and grenades stormed a defensive post held by Rwandan soldiers, who retaliated. Result: three injured on the Rwandan side, four dead and three captured on the side of the attackers.
The Rwandan army ensures that the attackers came from Burundi and that they fled to the Burundian military post in Gihisi, leaving behind food rations stamped with the Burundi National Defense Forces. On the Burundian side, a high ranking officer denies any collaboration by the army with groups hostile to Kigali and assures that elements have been deployed at the border to intercept the culprits.
Since 2015, relations between Rwanda and Burundi have been strained, the two neighbors accusing each other of supporting groups hostile to their government. Kigali in particular suspected Burundi of harboring members of the FDLR Hutu rebellion.
The fact remains that this new attack comes at a time when the hour seemed to be calming down, some sources even reporting contact at the highest level between the two armies.
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