The Congolese security troops have reportedly killed at least 18 Burundian refugees during confrontations on Friday over plans to return some of the refugees to their home country, officials and local activists said.
According to officials and local activists “soldiers and police opened fire as the refugees tried to free some of their compatriots in Kamanyola, a town in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo near the Burundi border.
The interior ministry official, Josue Boji said,”the troops attempted to disperse the refugees by firing in the air but were overwhelmed when the group began throwing stones.”
An eyewitness Alfred Rukungo said the soldiers continued shooting into the crowd even after some refugees were wounded.
Congo-based U.N. communications official Florence Marchal also said peacekeeping mission in Congo has deployed teams on the site to shed light on everything that happened.
Burundi Foreign Minister Alain Aime Nyamitwe asked Congo and the U.N. on Twitter for an explanation of the shootings.
More than 400,000 refugees from Burundi have fled to neighbouring Congo since 2015, to escape an outbreak of political violence that was sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s successful but disputed bid to win a third term in office.
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