Bugesera invasion

The Bugesera invasion, also known as the Bloody Christmas, was a military attack which was conducted against Rwanda by rebels called Inyenzi who aimed to overthrow the government in December 1963. The Inyenzi were a collection of ethnically Tutsi exiles who were affiliated with the Rwandan political party Union Nationale Rwandaise (UNAR), which had supported Rwanda's deposed Tutsi monarchy. The Inyenzi opposed Rwanda's transformation upon independence from Belgium into a state run by the ethnic Hutu majority through the Parti du Mouvement de l'Emancipation Hutu (PARMEHUTU), an anti-Tutsi political party led by President Grégoire Kayibanda. In late 1963, Inyenzi leaders decided to launch an invasion of Rwanda from their bases in neighbouring countries to overthrow Kayibanda. While an attempted assault in November was stopped by the government of Burundi, early in the morning on 21 December 1963, several hundred Inyenzi crossed the Burundian border and captured the Rwandan military camp in Gako, Bugesera. Bolstered with seized arms and recruited locals, the Iyenzi—numbering between 1,000 and 7,000—marched on the Rwandan capital, Kigali. They were stopped 12 miles south of the city at Kanzenze Bridge along the Nyabarongo River by multiple units of the Garde Nationale Rwandaise (GNR). The GNR routed the rebels with their superior firepower, and in subsequent days repelled further Inyenzi attacks launched from the Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

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1963  Wikidata
Bloody Christmas
invasion, Rwanda, 
Acre, 

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Location: -2.205, 30.145, KML, Cluster Map, Maps,
5 places

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1963-12-21T00:00:00Z

1963-12-27T00:00:00Z

1963 Bugesera invasion

1963-01-01T00:00:00Z

1964-01-01T00:00:00Z

1963 — 1964 First Rwanda War

1990-10-01T00:00:00Z

1993-08-04T00:00:00Z

1990 — 1993 Rwandan Civil War

1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

1994 Second Rwanda War

1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

1997 — 1998 Third Rwanda War

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Frameless

Type	Subtype	Date	Description	Notes	Source
area	region	1962	Rwanda	sovereign state, republic, country	Wikidata
event	armed conflict	1963	Bugesera invasion	invasion	Wikidata
event	war	1963	First Rwanda War	Rwanda, civil war, Tutsi	Wikidata
event	war	1990	Rwandan Civil War	France, Rwanda, civil war, Zaire, Rwandan Patriotic Front	Wikidata
event	war	1994	Second Rwanda War	civil war, Rwanda, Rwandan Patriotic Front	Wikidata
event	war	1997	Third Rwanda War	civil war, Rwanda, Hutu	Wikidata