Fighting Between Hutu Rebels and the Army Kills 12

The latest outbreak of fighting between Hutu rebels and the army in Burundi’s decade-long civil war has killed at least 12 people on the outskirts of the capital, government and rebel spokesmen said. Rebels killed four soldiers on Sunday in Muyira district in northern Bujumbura because they went into an area controlled by the National Liberation Forces, or FNL, “which FNL considered as a provocation,” spokesman Pasteur Habimana said Monday. At least eight civilians were killed in the crossfire and nine others wounded, said Ignace Ntawembarira, the governor of Bujumbura-Rural province outside the capital. About 5,000 people fled to neighboring Kanyosha and the northern Bujumbura district of Sororezo, he said. Habimana said the army killed 14 civilians and wounded nine others in retaliation for the rebels’ attack. Army spokesman Col. Augustin Nzabampema confirmed there was fighting between the army and rebels in Muyira on Sunday, but said the army was chasing the rebels from Muyira. He refused to comment on the civilian casualties saying, “the rebels most of time wear civilian clothing, and it becomes difficult for soldiers to distinguish who is a rebel.” Full Story