FIGHTING spread in eastern Zaire this week with new raids on villages and refugee camps north of Goma, amid growing evidence of a co- ordinated strategy to drive Hutu extremists away from Rwanda’s border. Several dozen people were reported killed and tens of thousands more added to the wave of refugees.
The latest attacks were apparently launched by Zairean Tutsis in revenge for pogroms in which the army and Hutu extremists have killed at least 15 000 Tutsis in the Masisi region, who are known as Banyarwanda, in the past two years and driven many more from their land and homes.
The Zairean government accuses the Rwandan government of being behind the raids. Kigali denies the charge. But the attacks appear to bear the hallmarks of an organised effort to clear refugee camps which have provided a safe haven for Hutu extremists attacking in Burundi and Rwanda.
There were raids on several villages near Katale at dawn, and an attack on Kibumba refugee camp near Goma in which dozens were believed killed. More than 20 000 people have fled. To the south, there was fighting around Uvira as the United Nations was finally able to evacuate 48 aid workers.
The United Nations refugee agency was still trying to discover the whereabouts of 150 000 Hutu refugees from Rwanda and Burundi who fled sites near Uvira at the weekend after raids on at least two of the camps. Only a fraction of the refugees have arrived at United Nations centres near Bukavu.
Fighting erupted after Zairean Tutsis living in the Uvira area resisted attempts to drive them from their land and force them into Rwanda. The authorities accused them of being rebels and threatened extermination.
But in recent days the resistance has appeared more co-ordinated, with raids on Hutu refugee camps and the Zairean army. Attacks on the Banyamulenge have also galvanised the Banyarwanda into resisting.
Zaire’s soldiers – notoriously more interested in looting than fighting – are faring poorly in the face of the attacks. Ammunition and equipment are in short supply. Dejected troops are fleeing with the refugees.
Zaire’s prime minister, Kengo wa Dondo, has accused Rwanda of invading his country. There have been no credible witness accounts of Rwandan soldiers on Zairean soil, but few in the region doubt there is a link between the raids and Rwanda.
Several Banyamulenge who joined the largely Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front when it launched its rebel war six years ago have since returned to Zaire and are helping to co-ordinate the fighting.
The governor of the north-western Burundi region of Cibitoke was killed in an ambush on Tuesday by suspected Hutu rebels, a military spokesman told Reuters. Lieutenant-Colonel Marcel Senarenze was travelling with several others. It was not clear how many died.