Officials say northwest calm after Interahamwe incursions

Government and defence officials have expressed satisfaction that the security situation in the northwestern provinces of Ruhengeri and Gisenyi is “under control” in the wake of attacks by Hutu Interahamwe militias from neighbouring DRC. The people of the two provinces had “played a significant role in fighting insurgency by reporting the presence of the rebels in their communities to the army”, Rwanda News Agency (RNA) on Monday quoted Deputy Chief of Staff James Kabarebe as saying. Throughout northwestern Rwanda and in parts of the southwest, the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) and local government officials had launched a public information campaign seeking to persuade people to break links with the rebels and to inform on them, Radio Rwanda reported on 16 June. Interahamwe units had moved from Masisi, in the eastern DRC province of North Kivu, with a view to launching attacks in Uganda and Rwanda, ‘The EastAfrican’ newspaper reported. Eighty Interahamwe were killed and 16 taken prisoner late last week, while nine guns were seized in the Kinigi and Buhoma districts bordering Virunga National Park, Radio Rwanda reported. The RPA on 15 June claimed it had killed 735 Hutu extremists and captured 350 since fighting broke out on 1 May between it and the insurgents - Interahamwe militiamen and former soldiers of the Forces armees rwandaises (FAR), the report said. Clashes had occurred nearly every day for the past fortnight in border areas and deeper inside Rwanda, sparking fears that as the DRC war died down, others may spring up, the station added.