/ 17 July 2001

RWANDA ARMY CAPTURES HUTU COMMANDER

THE Rwandan army has captured the commander of the extremist rebel Hutus in northwest Rwanda. “Colonel Bemera surrendered peacefully with five of his men while he was encircled by our forces at Mukingo,” said army representative, Jean-Bosco Kazura. Since May 20, fighters from the Interahamwe, an extremist Hutu militia who carried out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, as well as soldiers of a now-defunct Hutu army have been trying to return to Rwanda from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Three rebel officers, including an officer in charge of intelligence, were captured on Thursday by forces of the Rwandan Patriotic Front at Nyamutera, in northwestern Ruhengeri province. – AFP