Congolese security troops killed at least 18 Burundian refugees during confrontations Friday over plans to return some of the refugees to their home country, officials and local activists said.
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 troops attempted to disperse the refugees by “firing in the air but were overwhelmed,” when the group began throwing stones, according to interior ministry official Josue Boji.
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 confirmed the deaths and said the Congolese government, the U.N. refugee agency and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo “have deployed teams on site to shed light on everything that happened.”
Marchal said at least 50 others were wounded and the death toll is likely to rise.
Burundi Foreign Minister Alain Aime Nyamitwe asked Congo and the U.N. on Twitter for an explanation of the shootings.
The U.N. Refugee Agency issued a statement expressing shock and sadness over the deaths, and it is calling for an investigation. The UNHCR says it and its partners have sent teams to Kamanyola, including medical staff, to treat the injured.
“While the precise circumstances are not yet clear, reports indicate that in the course of a confrontation with Burundian demonstrators, Congolese security forces opened fire on the crowd. Initial reports suggest over 30 dead and more than one hundred left injured,” the UNHCR statement reads.
More than 400,000 refugees from Burundi have fled to neighboring 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.
