Tutsi which the Hutu then in power killed an estimated 500,000–1,000,000 people, largely of Tutsi origin. Victorious in the aftermath of the genocide, the RPF came to power in July 1994. Tutsis speak Rwanda-Rundi as their native language. It is a member of the Bantu subgroup of the Niger–Congo family. Rwanda-Rundi is subdivided into the Kinyarwanda and Kirundi dialects, which have been standardized as official languages of Burundi and Rwanda. Rwanda-Rundi is also spoken as a mother tongue by the Hutu and Twa. Additionally, many Tutsis speak French, the third official language of Rwanda and Burundi, as a lingua franca. The
Rwandan genocide only one dominated by an opposition party. Opposing the genocide, Habyalimana was able to keep relative calm in the province, until he was deposed by the extremist Sylvain Ndikumana. Finding the population of Butare resistant to murdering their fellow citizens, the government flew in militia from Kigali by helicopter, and they readily killed the Tutsi. Most of the victims were killed in their own villages or in towns, often by their neighbors and fellow villagers. The militia typically murdered victims with machetes, although some army units used rifles. The Hutu gangs searched out victims hiding in churches and school buildings,