BUJUMBURA, Burundi, 15 August 2004 — Attackers armed with machetes and automatic weapons raided a UN refugee camp in western Burundi, shooting and hacking to death at least 180 people, UN officials said.
Burundian Hutu rebels claimed responsibility, insisting the camp for Congolese Tutsi refugees fleeing tribal fighting was a hide-out for Burundian Army soldiers and Congolese tribal militiamen.
The attack late Friday echoed the killing during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and raised fears of retaliatory violence that could undo peace efforts in neighboring Congo.
UN officials visiting the camp after the attack said it sheltered ethnic Tutsi refugees, known as the Banyamulenge, who fled fighting in Congo’s troubled border province of South Kivu.
“What we have seen so far are many, many, many bodies of children, women and men,” Eliana Nabaa, spokeswoman of the UN mission in Congo said. “People were sleeping when the attack happened. People were killed as they tried to escape.”
Isabelle Abric, spokeswoman for the UN mission in Burundi, said 159 people were killed on the spot and 101 others were wounded in the attack in Gatumba, 20 km from the Congolese border town of Uvira. At least 30 of the wounded died later in hospital, she said.
Pasteur Habimana, spokesman for the National Liberation Forces, justified the attack, saying Burundian soldiers were hiding in the camp, located less than 1 kilometer from an army position.
“We were also attacked by armed Banyamulenge militiamen who lived in this camp,” he said. “The camp was a genuine Banyamulenge militiamen headquarters.”
Habimana had earlier said the victims were killed by Burundian soldiers who fled into the refugee camp to escape the rebel assault.
A spokesman for the Burundian Army could not be immediately reached for comment.
However, a spokesman of the UN refugee agency said the attackers raided a nearby army camp before attacking the refugees.
“These guys were armed with grenades, machetes, and automatic weapons. While the attack was going on they were beating drums,” said Fernando del Mundo, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva.
Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye visited the camp yesterday and described the massacre as “a shame” and asked the Congolese government to assist in investigations.
“What I can say is that it is Burundi which has been attacked. The attackers killed innocent refugees who sought refuge in Burundi,” Ndayizeye said. The rebels “declared that they attacked a military camp and that the soldiers fled in this camp but I saw no soldier’s body except those of young children, women and old persons.”
Congo’s President Laurent Kabila said he “energetically condemns this ignoble act,” and demanded an international investigation.
In a statement, Kabila also called on the Burundian government and the UN refugee agency to secure the area and protect “the vulnerable population.”
