The Twirwaneho armed group announced that it had recently shot down a helicopter operated by mercenaries employed by the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as a result of their continued attacks on civilians.
On December 6, 2025, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, in the Yumbi area of Fizi Territory, fishermen were seen recovering the body of a white man who was in a military helicopter.
It was reported that the white man and his companions were rescued alive from the water, and were mercenaries who were being used by the government of the DRC in the ongoing war in South Kivu province.
On December 7, 2025, Twirwaneho announced that after a long period of blockade by Burundian troops on the highlands of Fizi, Mwenga and Uvira, about 100 people, fearing for their lives, went to the markets of Ndondo and Bijombo to buy food and medicine.
Twirwaneho spokesman Col Kamasa Ndakize Welcome said, “But yesterday morning, when these civilians were returning, they were ambushed by the Burundian troops, killed, and taken hostage (mostly women). The number of innocent victims is still unknown.”
Col Kamasa explained that the Burundian army harassed many women captured in this ambush, raped them, and committed other crimes against them, which were carried out at the Mikalati military base and other unknown locations.
Twirwaneho announced that he went to rescue the civilians, the Burundian army requested assistance, which was in turn sent three helicopters piloted by three white businessmen, which bombed areas including Mikalati, Mikenke, Gahwera, Gisoke and Rugezi.
He said, “After the attacks on these villages, our army shot down one of these helicopters, which fell into Lake Tanganyika, in Fizi territory, in the Yumbi area.”
The group announced that on December 6, two battalions of Burundian troops left Mwenga Center and headed to Mikalati via Kipupu, with the aim of reinforcing the forces in Mikalati to kill the Banyamulenge.
Twirwaneho called on Burundian troops to leave DRC territory immediately, informing the population that it would continue to take measures to ensure their safety and protect them and their property.
