Don Simba

UPDATE: Reports indicate that President Ndayishimiye is planning a full-scale move to capture all of Minembwe. Since December, Bujumbura has been redeploying troops into South Kivu, particularly in areas surrounding Minembwe. At the same time, Tshisekedi is reportedly backing this operation, with claims that he has promised $70 per Burundian soldier to support the offensive. For months now, Kinshasa has intensified drone strikes on Minembwe clear preparation for a large-scale ground operation. This is not just about territory. Tshisekedi and Ndayishimiye’s objective is to take full control of Minembwe and forcibly remove the Banyamulenge, whom they refuses to recognize as Congolese. Currently, Burundian troops are advancing via Lake Tanganyika, transiting through the lakeside town of Baraka before moving into key strategic areas across Fizi and Mwenga, Kakenge, Mulima, Kalingi, Mikenge, Bidegu, Mukoko Forest, and Lulenge. The goal is total control of Minembwe and the displacement of the Banyamulenge as a people, leaving them stateless. This week, Human Rights Watch confirmed that Banyamulenge in Minembwe have been under a prolonged blockade for months cut off, targeted, and abandoned. This cannot continue. History will judge Burundi and the DRC for these actions. But it will also judge the silence of the international community.