Rwanda is reported to have armed and trained refugees to fight on behalf of the Burundian opposition.
Rwanda’s government has denied similar allegations in the past.
Burundi has been hit by civil conflict since President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to stand for a third term.
In a hearing in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, two top diplomats cited reports from colleagues in the field that they said pointed to Rwandan involvement in the Burundi crisis.
Thomas Perriello, U.S. envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa, said the reports suggested that Burundian refugees, including children, were being recruited from camps in Rwanda to participate in armed attacks against the Burundian government.
Burundi’s Foreign Minister, Alain Nyamitwe, welcomed the statements, saying they were “better later than never because we’ve been telling the Barack Obama administration about this for the last seven or eight months,” Voice of America reported.
He also urged the U.S. “to move beyond simple rhetoric and take action”, without giving further details.
Turmoil erupted in Burundi after Mr. Nkurunziza announced plans last April to run for a third term, which he went on to win.
More than 400 people have died in the violence and at least 240,000 have fled the country.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. assistant secretary of African affairs, said that U.S. officials had encouraged Rwandan authorities “to play a productive role and not to do anything that might further destabilise Burundi”.
Writing on Twitter, Rwanda’s Foreign Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, mocked the international community for not doing more to stop the cycle of violence in Burundi, without responding to the latest statements from the U.S.
The governments of Rwanda and Burundi are from rival ethnic groups and there is growing international concern that another ethnic conflict could take root in the region.
