To counter the Twirwaneho group, which is affiliated with the AFC coalition, the Burundian government recently deployed a special unit in the South Kivu province.
Unlike usual procedures, these soldiers, accompanied by several hundred intelligence agents, were deployed in civilian clothing. They crossed the border through the Ubwari region, located northwest of Lake Tanganyika.
Once on site, they advanced toward the localities of Rugezi and Lulenge in the Minembwe region of South Kivu, according to security sources.
This deployment came even though the Burundian government had been calling for a political resolution of the conflict in eastern DRC. The decision to send troops in civilian clothes seemed motivated by the desire to conceal their presence.
During clashes on April 15, 2025, in several localities of the Fizi territory, a significant number of Burundian soldiers were killed, though the exact toll of dead and wounded remains unknown.
Three days later, on April 18, some of the wounded were evacuated to Bujumbura via a fast boat across Lake Tanganyika.
However, the operation turned tragic: the boat capsized, resulting in the deaths of 12 soldiers, nine of whom had been among the wounded from the earlier clashes.
Burundian forces have been deployed in South Kivu since 2022 under a bilateral security cooperation agreement between the two countries. Revised in August 2023, this agreement also permits their presence in North Kivu province.
Since the agreement’s implementation, Burundi has deployed more than 20,000 soldiers in eastern DRC. However, this military presence has not allowed the Congolese government to regain control of the vast areas held by the AFC/M23 coalition.
