Rebel Leader Claims Capture of Half of Rwanda
Rebels have captured half of Rwanda and will ignore calls for an international peacekeeping force until they take control of the capital, Kigali, and other government-held areas of the country, a rebel commander said Friday.
Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame, chairman of the rebel high command, denied reports of a truce between loyalist government troops and his rebel force in an interview late Friday from rebel headquarters five miles north of Kigali. More than half a dozen previous truces have failed to halt the fighting.
In the distance, tracers lighted the night sky over Kigali. Fighting, mostly from mortars, has intensified over the last four days.
The fighting between majority Hutus, who dominate the government, and minority Tutsis, who lead the rebel movement, began in this central African nation after the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi died in a plane crash April 6.
The United Nations and various aid agencies have estimated the death toll in Rwanda at 100,000 to 200,000. About 1.3 million people have fled their homes, and 300,000 have found refuge in four neighboring countries.
Kagame said his rebels will keep fighting because a military solution is the only way to resolve the parties’ profound disagreements.
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