NAIROBI, 28 Feb: Dozens of Burundian troops have been detained for refusing to be deployed to eastern Congo in the fight against the M23 rebel group as it advances toward a major border city, according to army officers, prison offici-als and other witnesses.
\nThe dissenting soldiers were being held in at least four prisons across the tiny central African country, they told The Associated Press.
\nClashes between M23, which the U.S. says is backed by Rwanda, and Congolese troops have intensified in recent weeks with the rebels threatening the Congo city of Goma on the Rwanda border.
\nBurundian President \u00c9variste Ndayishimiye, in a public broadcast on Dec. 29, acknowledged the presence of Burundian troops in eastern Congo under the terms of a defense pact with Congolese authorities.
\n\u201cIf you do not help your neighbor put out the fire when his house is burning, tomorrow, if it is your turn, he will not come to help you,\u201d he said. \u201cIf Burundi is going to help (Congo), it is defending itself.\u201d
\nHe said in that address that it was \u201cnormal for Burundian soldiers to be killed on Congolese territory.\u201d
\nTensions have been rising in Africa\u2019s Great Lakes region as Rwanda, Burundi and Congo trade accusations over support for violent rebel groups operating in the lawless areas of eastern Congo.
\nCongolese President Felix Tshisekedi has accused Rwanda\u2019s government of actively supporting M23, which controls territory near the Rwanda border. U.N. experts have cited \u201csolid evidence\u201d that members of Rwanda\u2019s armed forces were conducting operations in support of the rebels in eastern Congo. Rwanda denies supporting the M23.
\nAt the same time, Burundi is accusing Rwanda of supporting another Congo-based rebel group opposed to Burundi\u2019s government. The group, known as RED-Tabara, has claimed responsibility for multiple deadly attacks inside Burundi. The latest attack, in which at least nine people were killed, happened on Sunday.
\nBurundi last month suspended diplomatic relations with Rwanda and closed their border, calling it a response to Rwanda\u2019s alleged backing of RED-Tabara, which is based in Congo\u2019s South Kivu province. Rwanda denies the allegation.
\nBurundian authorities have not revealed how many troops have been deployed to eastern Congo. They also haven\u2019t commented on the arrests of soldiers who refuse deployment across the border. Brig. Gaspard Baratuza, the Burundian military spokesman, did not respond to requests for comment.
\nAccording to two army officers and multiple prison guards who spoke to the AP, the arrests of dissenting soldiers started in December, with more than 200 detained. They include at least 103 in the Rumonge prison in the southwest, two prison guards there said. Others were being held in remand centers in Ngozi in the north, Ruyigi in the east, and Bururi in the south, according to prison guards in each of those penal institutions.
\nAn army colonel in Bujumbura, the commercial capital, said many soldiers have been imprisoned \u201cfor having refused to fight alongside the (Congolese army) against the M23.\u201d Some also face additional charges of stealing war funds, he said, without elaborating.
\n\u201cSome have already been dismissed from the army, but there are also some who have been acquitted. It is no secret that many soldiers are detained for these acts,\u201d he said.
\nThe colonel, like others who spoke about the detentions, requested anonymity because of safety concerns. (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, 28 Feb: Dozens of Burundian troops have been detained for refusing to be deployed to eastern Congo in the fight against the M23 rebel group as it advances toward a major border city, according to army officers, prison offici-als and other witnesses. The dissenting soldiers were being held in at least four prisons across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-235825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235825\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}