| 2020 Bugarama attack | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of RED-Tabara insurgency | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Burundi | RED-Tabara | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 5 killed | ||||||
| 11 civilians kidnapped and killed | |||||||
Between August 23 and 24, 2020, militants from RED-Tabara attacked the city of Bugarama, Burundi, killing eleven civilians and five militants.
RED-Tabara was formed as a Tutsi group against the administration of Évariste Ndayishimiye and Pierre Nkurunziza. Following Nkurunziza's death a month after the 2020 Burundian general election, Ndayishimiye succeeded him and took office in July 2020. [1] RED-Tabara decried the elections, and stated they would continue to oppose Ndayishimiye. [2] In late August, the first repatriation of Burundian refugees from Rwanda began. The Burundian government had accused Rwanda of holding the refugees hostage and preventing their repatriation in July and August. [3]
The attack began on August 23, when RED-Tabara militants emerged from the forest around Bugarama and kidnapped eleven people. [4] The commander of the militants later stated that they infiltrated Burundi from the DRC's South Kivu province through Lake Tanganyika. [5] The eleven hostages were summarily executed, and then clashes broke out between the militants and the Burundian Army in the city. [3] Five militants were killed in the battle, and eventually retreated. [3] A senior Burundian government official stated that the attack likely stemmed from the repatriation of the refugees. [2] RED-Tabara claimed responsibility for the attack on August 24, after clashes had died down earlier that day, and claimed that nine policemen and twenty "militants" had been killed. [2] In the statement, RED-Tabara claimed that Hutu rebel group FDLR had infiltrated Burundian forces. [2] [6]
RED-Tabara claimed several more attacks in Burundi on September 15, 18, and 25, claiming the deaths of fifty-nine people who they alleged were associated with the Burundian government. [7] Several RED-Tabara militants, including the commander of the Bugarama attack, were arrested in Rwanda on September 29. They claimed that the Bugarama attack was against Burundian forces and Imbonerakure. [5]
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