Twenty people, including 19 civilians, were killed in western Burundi, the government announced Saturday, in an attack claimed by the RED-Tabara group, which said its members killed 10 members of the security forces.

The attack took place last Friday night in the community of Vugizo, about twenty kilometers from the economic capital of Bujumbura, neighboring the DR Congo, where RED-Tabara (“Resistance for the rule of law in Burundi”), the main organization, has bases rebels fighting against the regime of Evarist Etasimié.

In a statement, the government said that the “cowardly attack” had “deliberately” targeted civilians, resulting in the killing of 20 people, including “12 children”, five of whom were “under the age of five”, “three women, among them two pregnant women”, and “five men, among them one of the policemen who intervened to save the citizens”.

Another nine people are in hospital, the government added, condemning the “heinous” and “barbaric” attack, which it described as a “terrorist act”.

For its part, RED-Tabara reported through X (the former Twitter) that its Burundi-based fighters attacked a border post in Bugizo, killing “9 soldiers and 1 policeman”.

Two AFP sources in the military and security services said the rebel attack targeted a “military position”.

“Civilians were caught in the crossfire and killed, then the attackers retreated to DR Congo,” a senior officer explained on condition of anonymity, confirming the death toll of 20.

This is the second attack by rebels in Burundi in less than two weeks. RED-Tabara fighters have been operating on the country’s soil since September 2021.

On December 11, he spoke of fighting with the army in northwestern Burundi.

“The RED-Tabara movement promises to continue its operations across the country,” he said via X yesterday.

As of late 2021, fighting between the group and the Burundian armed forces was taking place in South Kivu province, DR Congo, where the latter were deployed to pursue it, according to sources in both countries.

Authorities in both states officially deny their presence.

However, according to a report published in July by the NGO Initiative for Human Rights in Burundi (Initiative pour les droits humains au Burundi, IDHB), hundreds of members of the Burundian armed forces and paramilitaries have been deployed in eastern DR Congo since December 2021.