Over one hundred Burundi soldiers have been killed in action during an intense gun battle in south Kivu.
The fighting took place at Gihuha very close to Kabanja.
According to emerging reports the rebels seized large cache of weapons.
Burundi soldiers are deployed alongside with Congolese troops and wazalendo militia to fight against the AFC/M23 rebels that Control much of south Kivu and North Kivu provinces.
An estimated force of between 10000 to 20000 Burundian National Defense Force (FDNB) troops are believed to be deployed in South Kivu to fight alongside the Congolese army (FARDC) and allied Wazalendo militias.
The allied forces in south Kivu are targeting areas such as Fizi and the Minembwe mountains mostly controlled by the AFC/M23 rebels.
Kinshasa and Gigeta have a military cooperation agreement under which 29,000 Burundian soldiers were deployed to eastern DRC since August 2022.
Rwanda accuses the DRC and Burundi of collaborating with the FDLR terrorist organisation largely composed of perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda.
According to Burundi Human Rights Initiative, Burundi soldiers have been accused of sexual violence in Congo’s South Kivu province.
The FDNB troops conduct rape, abductions, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Congolese civilians since they were deployed to South Kivu
Rwanda also accuses the Congolese and Burundian armies of violating a ceasefire provided under a Washington peace deal.