Hutu Rebels Kill at Least 29 in Rwandan Camp

Machete-wielding Rwandan Hutu rebels attacked a resettlement camp in northwestern Rwanda, hacking to death at least 29 people and injuring scores of others, security officials said Friday.

The attack occurred in Mutura, a border village 50 miles northwest of Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Most of the victims were Tutsi civilians. The rebels had crossed over Thursday from Congo.

It was the first such attack inside the country since Rwandan troops crossed into Congo in August 1998 in support of Congolese rebels fighting to oust President Laurent Kabila.

The remnants of the Hutu-dominated Rwandan army and Hutu militiamen are based in Congo. They are primarily responsible for the 1994 massacre of more than 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

Aid workers confirmed this week’s killings and said more than 40 wounded had been taken to hospitals.

Military officials said eight people were injured in the attack. Doctors in nearby Ruhengeri said at least a dozen were seriously injured.

Details of Thursday’s attack were sketchy, but the officials said 50 Hutu fighters stormed Mutura, a resettlement village that shelters Tutsis who were either forced out of eastern Congo or who returned from years of exile in Uganda and Congo.