Military Periscope :: National Liberation Forces (FNL)

National Liberation Forces (FNL)

Group Name:

National Liberation Forces (FNL), Palipehutu-FNL

Location/Area of Operation:

Burundi, especially the provinces of Bujumbura and Bubanza.

Stated Purpose:

The FNL is a Hutu nationalist organization that aims to recover political and military authority in Burundi.

Strength:

Unknown. In 1999, the FNL was estimated to have some 10,000 militia fighters. However, recent government political agreements and stepped-up anti-insurgency operations have whittled FNL numbers down to 1,000-3,000. These were supposed to be demobilized or integrated with the military following a permanent peace agreement. FNL leaders claim to have over 20,000 fighters.

External Aid and Links:

The FNL’s most significant external support comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Formal Congolese support for the FNL probably ended after 2002, but supplies still come from within the volatile eastern DRC. The FNL is also believed to train, operate and base itself in the DRC.

Previously, Rwandan Interahamwe fighters fought alongside the FNL, but a dispute in 2000 with the Tutsi rebel Rwandan Liberation Army (ALiR) in eastern DRC seems to have ended such cooperation.

The FNL has connections to Mai-Mai militia fighters in South Kivu province. Some 200 FNL fighters reportedly have operated under Mai-Mai commander Col. Dunia on the Ubware peninsula.

At one time, Tanzania served as a basing area for FNL fighters, but improved relations between Burundi and Tanzania have largely ended that Tanzanian supportive attitude toward the FNL.

Activities:

Before 1997, the FNL attacked Tutsi civilians and moderate Hutus to sew strife and challenge the authority of the Tutsi military. The group concentrated its attacks in Hutu villages as it attempted to gain control of territory where it could recruit, train and equip.

By 1998, the group had moved on to larger military and political targets, such as the airport at Bujumbura and the capital.

The group is equipped with assault rifles, mortars, machine guns and rocket launchers. An unarmed youth wing of FNL, the Jeunesse Patriotique Hutu group, conducts intelligence gathering and recruitment.

Overview:

The FNL was founded in 1980 as an armed wing for the Hutu party called Palipehutu. Palipehutu formed within the refugee camps that popped up in Tanzania following an exodus from Burundi after a 1972 Hutu revolt. Significant military operations did not get underway until the 1990s.

The FNL has been a somewhat disorganized guerrilla group. Since 1998, the FNL has put greater emphasis on training and discipline. Training is believed to take place in the Kibira forest along the borders with Rwanda and the Congo.

The group has been beset by infighting on occasion, including disputes between Bururi and Ngozi Hutus. FNL leaders include Agathon Rwasa, the military commander; Pasteur Habimana, the spokesman; and Ibrahim Nakarutimana, the chief of staff.

The FNL conducted its first significant military campaign in 1991, attacking within the provinces of Bujumbura and Cibitoke. In the early and mid-1990s, the FNL opposed the Tutsi-dominated government of Pierre Buyoya.

In the early 1990s, Buyoya compromised and allowed elections and the formation of a government that included Melchior Ndadaye, a Hutu, as president. Several months later, Ndadaye was assassinated by Tutsi soldiers. Civil war resumed.

The 1994 shootdown of a plane carrying President Cyprien Ntaryamira and Rwanda’s President Juvenal Habyarimana over Kigali further inflamed violence in the region. Efforts were made to mitigate the situation with the appointment of a new interim Hutu as president of Burundi and Tutsi as prime minister. Another coup led by Buyoya in 1996 galvanized FNL opposition to the government.

The FNL formed an alliance of convenience in 1998 with Laurent Kabila of the DRC, as the Congolese leader fought his one-time allies Rwanda and Uganda. As part of this deal, the FNL received bases, weapons and other military assistance.

An agreement brokered by South Africa's Nelson Mandela led to the formation of a transitional Burundi government sharing power between Hutus and Tutsis in October 2001. The main Hutu rebel groups, including the FNL, still refused to call a cease-fire. By November 2003, the main Burundian Hutu rebel group Forces for Defense of Democracy (FDD) agreed to peace, and its leaders were integrated into the interim government.

Burundi formed a new army in January 2005, incorporating all former Hutu rebel groups except the FNL with the government forces.

In November 2005, the government headed by Pierre Nkurunziza announced a new offensive, involving military, police and other security forces which were arrayed against the FNL. This move came after several months of failed negotiations with the group. This military effort seriously weakened the FNL forces.

The FNL again agreed to join a new cease-fire with the government in September 2006. The agreement called for about 3,000 fighters to disarm for demobilization or integration into the national army. However, peace talks faltered in 2007 as fighting resumed between the FNL and government forces. The difficult situation was compounded by clashes within FNL. In 2008, the peace process advanced, and the FNL agreed to withdraw its combatants. However, a potential impasse in negotiations occurred in October 2008.

Group Chronology:

1980

The FNL was founded.

1991

FNL conducted its first significant military campaign, carrying out attacks in Bujumbura and Cibitoke provinces.

2000

August: Former South African President Nelson Mandela mediated a peace deal adopted by many political parties in Burundi. However, the FNL continued fighting.

2001

The FNL severed connections with its political forebear Palipehutu, disagreeing with the course of peace negotiations that were underway.

February: The FNL (along with the FDD, or Forces pour la Defense de la Democratie) assaulted Kinama, northern Bujumbura, in one of its largest operations. Some 7,000 rebels were amassed for a two-week offensive. About 50,000 were displaced.

September: The FNL conducted another offensive in northern Bujumbura.

December: The Burundian army captured the FNL’s headquarters.

2002

June: Agathon Rwasa, a group leader, survived an assassination attempt. FNL’s leadership was purged shortly thereafter.

August: FNL leader Alain Mugabarabona attempted to oust Rwasa. Mugabarabona argued that the FNL should participate in peace talks.

October: Fighting between the FNL and the armed forces in Masama and Gitenge led to 20,000 people fleeing their homes.

2003

December: The FDD signed a peace deal and joined the government.

2004

The FDD and Burundi military launched attacks on the FNL, capturing half the group’s territory.

February: The FNL claimed responsibility for killing the Vatican's ambassador to Burundi.

August: The FNL claimed responsibility for massacring 160 Congolese Tutsis at the Gatumba refugee camp near the DRC border.

December: The United Nations peacekeeping mission, known as ONUB, opened disarmament camps to demobilize around 55,000 former combatants.

2005

January: Fighting involving the FNL in Bujumbura displaced 25,000 people.

May 16: FNL leader Agathon Rwasa and Burundian President Dominitien Ndayizeye signed a peace declaration in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The two pledged an immediate cessation of hostilities and agreed to set up a technical commission to establish a formal cease-fire within a month.

May: Fighting broke out between the military and FNL one week after the cease-fire agreement.

Sept. 14: FNL rebels rejected peace negotiations, saying it did not recognize the government because it was "imposed by the international community and it was not elected by the Burundian people."

November-December: The Burundi government launched a new offensive to eliminate the FNL.

2006

July: The Burundian army announced it had arrested three senior commanders of the FNL. They were captured during a raid on the outskirts of the capital Bujumbura.

Sept. 7: The FNL signed a cease-fire with the government and agreed to demobilize. The agreement included amnesty and government posts for FNL leaders and integration of FNL fighters into the army.

2007

May 12: A South African mediator arrived in Bujumbura to revive stalled peace talks between the government and the FNL. The FNL quit a joint cease-fire monitoring team the previous month.

July: FNL representatives withdrew from the truce monitoring team for the second time within months.

September: FNL splinter groups fought among themselves in Bujumbura, resulting in the death of 20 militants. Some FNL components also clashed with government troops.

October: Clashes among FNL factions continued. In two separate skirmishes near Bujumbura, 14 militants were killed.

December: FNL fighters attacked a Burundi army unit in Bubanza province.

2008

March 1: FNL leaders approved a negotiated plan of action for peace at meetings with the government in Dar es Salaam. The government had approved the plan in late February.

April: The FNL withdrew from the peace verification and monitoring plan. Members of the group argued that the existing legal framework granting FNL members provisional immunity was not sufficient and that a new law was required as a precondition for their return.

April 17: The FNL issued a statement reserving its right to defend itself should the government attack its positions. Fighting broke out in the capital of Bujumbura on the same day, with the FNL and the government accusing each other of instigating the conflict. Ten rebels, four government troops and one civilian were killed. The government subsequently began air strikes on FNL targets.

April 21: The FNL called for an end to the government’s military offensive, the provision of food aid to FNL combatants and the resumption of negotiations.

May: The FNL indicated it would resume participation in the verification and monitoring program, followed by a renewal of the cease-fire. FNL leader Agathon Rwasa returned home from exile in Tanzania.

June 16: FNL’s Rwasa declared the war over and ordered FNL fighters to remain in various cantonment areas.

July 25: More than 2,000 FNL fighters assembled at a cantonment site in Rugazi, though only around 40 weapons were handed over. The government issued a statement saying "all the combatants still holding weapons are considered criminals."

Aug. 29: FNL and government representatives agreed to a reconciliation process to implement the original 2006 cease-fire. The government agreed to release some FNL detainees, while the FNL agreed to withdraw combatants to specified areas.

Oct. 20: Peace negotiations hit a stumbling block over the name Palipehutu, which means "for the Hutu alone." The government claimed the FNL could not keep the name, since Burundi’s constitution forbids political parties with ethnic affiliations. The rebels refused to drop the name.

Last Updated:

November 2008