Interahamwe militiamen threaten security in the northwest

A local official in Burundi's northwestern province of Cibitoke has expressed concern over a security threat posed by Rwandan Hutu militiamen, known as Interahamwe, who have staged raids in the province in the last month, looting property in two communes. "Interahamwe militias have been hiding in the Kibira forest neighbouring the communes of Mabayi and Bukinanyana for about a month now," Benoit Ntigurirwa, the Cibitoke governor, told IRIN on Wednesday. The Interahamwe fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cibitoke Province is on the border with the DRC and Rwanda. "We don’t have their exact number but from the intelligence reports we gathered, those who have been raiding the communes might be around 150," Ntigurirwa said. He added that some 40 to 45 militiamen had been reported in Mabayi Commune, about 100 km north of the capital, Bujumbura, and another 100 in Bukinanyana Commune. The Interahamwe raids had interrupted the security and tranquillity the local population enjoyed, Ntigurirwa said. He added that the province had experienced relative calm following the signing in November of a peace agreement between the country's largest rebel faction, the Conseil National pour la defense de la democratie-Forces de defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) and the transitional government. He told IRIN that the militiamen had raided the two communes in late November and again on 5 and 8 December and mainly targeted cattle, food and money, which they looted from the locals. Administrative and military officials have taken measures to curb Interahamwe incursions into Mabayi and Bukinanyana, Ntigurirwa said, adding that night patrols were being planned and military positions had also been increased in the area. He said the Interahamwe entered Burundi from the DRC through Kagwena locality, known to be a corridor used often by the militiamen. On Monday, Burundi News Agency ABP quoted the administrator of Mabayi, Evariste Bigirimana, as saying that an official in the former Rwandan army ex-FAR, who surrendered to the Burundian army last week, had told military officials that the Interahamwe were fleeing the DRC following the formation of a transitional government of national unity there in June. Thousands of Interahamwe militia and ex-FAR troops fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide but many of them have since returned home. However, thousands remain in jungles in eastern DRC.