Rwandan Hutus attempting retreat into DRC

Eight Hutu combatants whom the Burundian army captured on Saturday are among many fleeing their forest hideouts in searching of food, Burundian army spokesman, Maj Adolphe Manirakiza, told IRIN on Tuesday. "They have been leaving the Kibira natural forest [in the northwestern province of Cibitoke]," he said. "Many are attempting to cross to the Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC]." The Burundian army sealed off the forest in June, Manirakiz said, "when we had reports that Interahamwe militias were entering". The Burundi/Rwandan border cuts through the forest, and the Interhamwe, Rwandan rebels who are partly held responsible for that country's 1994 genocide, have been trying to use this route to launch attacks on their homeland. These Rwandan Hutu fighters are now cut off and hungry, Manirakiza said. He added that one of the detainees told him they mostly feed on roots. The detainee said there had been 83 different militias in the forest at the beginning of June but now there are less than 40. Two of the captured are Hutu’s from the Rwandan army from before 1994 Maj Manirakiza said; six are Interahamwe militia fighters. Their leader, a lieutenant, is still in the forest, he said, but the leader’s two security guards were captured in August. All eight are now detained in a military camp in Cibitoke. Manirakiza said after interrogations they will be handed over to Rwanda. Elsewhere, in the western province of Bujumbura Rural, the Burundian army last week killed 21 Burundian Hutu rebels loyal to the Forces Nationales de Libération (FNL) led by Agathon Rwasa, Manirakiza said. "I believe the fighting was among the toughest ones we have ever had," he said. One government soldier also died and five others were wounded. Clashes have been occurring frequently in Bujumbura Rural with the FNL that is the only rebel movement still fighting the government.