wfn.org | Three LWF field staff members killed in armed assault in Rwanda

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
Press Release

GENEVA, March 12, 1998 -  The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has learned
with sadness and distress of the killing of three of its Department for
World Service (WS)  staff members in Rwanda. They died in an armed assault
near the border with Tanzania during the night, March 11-12, on the
compound of a resettlement project for returnee Tutsi refugees. A number of
other staff members were injured.

According to preliminary information from the WS office in Kigali the
assailants appear to have come from the Tanzanian border area, crossing the
Akagera river in small boats. A truck is currently driving from Kigali to
Bukora 3 in the prefecture of Kibungo to recover the victims.

The LWF has been involved in humanitarian aid in the region since 1994. The
resettlement project in Bukora 3 is funded by the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) with the LWF as implementing partner.

The Akagera river is a branch of the Kagera river which earned a tragic
reputation when, in 1994, the bodies of thousands of dead Rwandans were
found and recovered.

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Lutheran World Information
Editorial Assistant: Janet Bond-Nash
E-mail: jbn@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/