Militia infiltrations reported in northwest

The ex-FAR and Interahamwe militias are reportedly infiltrating the prefectures of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri in northwest Rwanda with the intention of "fighting to destabilise the population once again", an OCHA update for May said. It noted at least nine deaths in different communes during the month of May. OCHA quoted local sources as saying the militias were going from house to house asking the local residents to join them. "Those rejecting were shot at and those accepting taken away to be recruited," the sources said. On 16 May, in Kinigi commune, Ruhengeri prefecture, a secondary school was attacked and three students killed and three others wounded. Two local defence personnel were also killed on the same day in Ruhondo commune. A body of a medical professor was pulled out of Lake Kivu in Gisenyi in the third week of May. OCHA said NGOs in the northwest were continuing to operate in these communes without military escort. "Although no incident was reported so far [against NGOs], the present reported buildup of Interahamwe in the area is worrying and all security measures need to be emphasised," OCHA said.