Nearly twenty Burundian soldiers fighting alongside the Congolese army killed, according to military sources

About twenty Burundian soldiers, who fight-alongside the Congolese army-in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the armed group of March 23 (M23) and its Rwandan allies, were killed in clashes on Monday 12 and Tuesday, March 13, told the France-Presse (AFP) agency (AFP) on Thursday.

“Unfortunately, we lost twenty soldiers and a dozen others were injured when the M23 and the Rwandan soldiers launched the assault on our Kaziba positions, in the mountains that overlook the plain of the Ruzizi”announced to AFP a high Burundian rank under the cover of anonymity.

Kaziba is approximately 80 kilometers north-west of Uvira, a city at the northwest tip of Lake Tanganyika backed by the Burundian economic capital, Bujumbura.

“These fights lasted two days on Monday and Tuesday, before our soldiers, who had been surrounded, manage to free themselves”added the Burundian officer. But, still in difficulty, they had to “Leave behind the operations chief of 10^e Tafoc battalion [task force]Major Claude Ndikumana, who had been injured ”, And was captured, said this source. Another military source said to AFP that between twenty-two and twenty-five Burundian soldiers had been killed. X accounts close to the M23 published a photo of the Burundian major on Wednesday, which was identified for AFP by a loved one and another officer of his promotion.

“The Burundian soldiers fell back several kilometers south but the clashes with the M23 continued yesterday and today”, Thursday, with a lesser intensity, said the high ranking.

“Check the mountains”

The M23, which claims to fight to defend the interests of Tutsi populations in eastern DRC, is supported according to experts by some 4,000 Rwandan soldiers. He has taken control of large territories since 2021 in the Congolese provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, borders of Rwanda since 2021. Thanks to a flash offensive, the M23 and its allies have taken control since January of a portion of the east of the DRC, in particular the cities of Goma and Bukavu, and continued their progress in several directions.

Kinshasa accuses his Rwandan neighbor of seeking to appropriate the rich mineral resources of North Kivu and South Kivu.

Burundi has deployed more than 10,000 soldiers for the Congolese army since 2023, as part of a military cooperation agreement with Kinshasa. The country had, according to military sources, began to withdraw troops in February in the face of the advance of the M23, before substantially strengthening its military device in its border area.

The M23 continues to advance towards Minembwe, where members of the Twirwaneho armed group have rallied, also in Tutsi, accused of “Collaboration” With the M23 by the United Nations group of experts on the DRC.

According to the high Burundian ranking, “The M23 is trying to go to junction with this armed group (…) and control the mountains overlooking the plain of Rusizi and Uvira ».