Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye has acknowledged cooperation with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a militia linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, during an interview with the BBC.
When asked about Rwanda’s position that Burundi works with the FDLR, President Ndayishimiye replied, “the enemy of your enemy becomes your friend,” a statement that openly confirms collaboration with the group.
The FDLR is composed largely of remnants of forces responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in which more than one million Tutsis were murdered.
The militia continues to operate in the Great Lakes region and remains anchored in genocidal ideology.
Burundi has been operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a coalition with the Congolese national army (FARDC), the FDLR, and Wazalendo militias.
This coalition has carried out military operations that have resulted in the systematic killing, persecution, and displacement of Congolese Tutsi communities in North Kivu and South Kivu.
Rwanda has consistently identified the FDLR as an existential security threat and has warned that state cooperation with genocidal militias entrenches regional instability and fuels mass violence against civilians.
President Ndayishimiye’s remarks are expected to further escalate already strained relations between Kigali and Bujumbura, while intensifying international scrutiny of state-backed armed coalitions operating in eastern Congo.