Watusi Invasion Of Rwanda Feared

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31004, 9 March 1966, Page 13

Watusi Invasion Of Rwanda Feared

(N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) BUKAVU (The Congo), March 7. Armed Watusi refugees massed along Barundi’s northern border are on the verge of invading Rwanda, according to persistent reports reaching Bukavu, the “New York Times” news service reported.

The refugees, some of whom are said to have fought with Congolese rebels in the eastern Congo in the last two years, are reported to have collected at two points, both heavily forested. One is near Lake Rugwero

at the eastern end of the frontier, the other is near Nfora to the west.

From these points they would be within 30 miles of both Kigali, the overgrown village that is Rwanda’s capital, and Kamembe. an airfield that is vital not only to ■Rwanda but also to the eastern Congo.

Estimates of the size of the Watusi forces vary widely, but they all place it well above that of the Rwanda National Guard, which has less than 1000 men. The guard has been placed on an alert. Feudal Aristocracy

The Watusis were a feudal aristocracy ruling Rwanda until 1960 when they were ousted from power by the country’s Hutu majority, which accounts for more than 85 per cent of its population. Reports of an imminent invasion, coming from missionary and other sources, are viewed with alarm.

Attempted Watusi invasions of Rwanda in December, 1963, touched off bloody fighting in which an estimated 10.000 Rwandan Watusis were killed and many more driven into I There are at least 150.000 Watusis remaining in Rwanda, a small mountainous nation located almost in the centre of Africa. Its 3 million inhabitants make Rwanda the most densely-populated country on i the continent