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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Massacre Of 118 Tutsi Refugees Sparks New Violence

Associated Press

The family of six lay together on a mat in what had been a refugee tent. All were dead - apparently killed in their sleep.

Witnesses said Saturday that 118 people were killed and 87 wounded in the attack early Friday on the camp for Tutsi refugees who had fled the former Zaire last year. They blamed Hutu insurgents.

Military officials said local Hutus, who form the majority in the region and the country, also participated in the attack.

The massacre at this camp near the border with Congo - formerly Zaire - is the worst single attack by Hutu rebels since they launched an attempt to regain their homeland in 1995.

“I heard the enemy say during the attack that they will come again to kill people,” said Boniface avugimana, a refugee from Rutshuru across the border in Congo. His brother was wounded in the attack.

The Hutu attacks, the counter-attacks by the predominately Tutsi army and the growing involvement of civilians on both sides of this undeclared war show the cycle of violence that has plagued Rwanda for four decades.

Armed with assault rifles, machetes and clubs, the attackers raided Mudende camp early Friday under cover of darkness, torching tents made of plastic sheeting and opening fire on refugees sleeping inside, witnesses and the army said.

Three large tents housing six families each were burned with the occupants inside. Other victims were hacked or shot to death.