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Burundi Closes Border With Rwanda After Accusing It of Backing Rebels, Interior Minister States

© AFP 2023 STEPHANIE AGLIETTIA picture taken on August 23, 2016, shows a bus parked in Akanyaru on the Rwandan side of the street, located at the border with Burundi.
A picture taken on August 23, 2016, shows a bus parked in Akanyaru on the Rwandan side of the street, located at the border with Burundi. - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 12.01.2024
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Burundian Interior Minister Martin Niteretse announced Thursday that the country was suspending diplomatic ties with Rwanda, closing borders with the neighboring country and deporting Rwandan nationals after accusing Kigali of supporting a rebel group that has been attacking Burundi.
In December, Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye accused Rwanda of backing and providing financial support to Burundian rebels known as RED-Tabara, which Burundi considers a terrorist group, after the group carried out an attack near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo on December 22, having killed 20 people, including women and children.

"[Rwandan President] Paul Kagame is a bad neighbor... We have suspended all relations with him until he comes to his senses. He is harboring criminals who are destabilizing Burundi... All the borders are closed. We don’t need Rwandans here, and even those who were on our territory, we chased them out," ABC News quoted Niteretse as telling a meeting with the country's security officials.

In a statement, Rwandan authorities denied the country's involvement in the attacks by the rebels. Kigali also regretted the unilateral closure of the border, saying that the authorities learned of this decision from media reports.
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