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Heavy shelling in Burundi capital | Heavy shelling in Burundi capital |
(about 2 hours later) | |
There has been sustained shelling of the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, by suspected rebels. | There has been sustained shelling of the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, by suspected rebels. |
A BBC correspondent in the city says the sound of explosion and gunfire could be heard throughout the night. | |
An army spokesman says four soldiers and 10 rebels were killed in the clashes, reports Reuters news agency. | |
Peace deals have been signed with most of Burundi's rebel groups, including one which now forms the government, except the FNL, which remains active. | |
The military's deputy spokesman Colonel Justace Ciza said the fighting had broken out in Bubanza, 50km (30 miles) north-west of the capital. | |
"FNL rebels shelled mortar bombs and threw hand grenades on our different positions... but we retaliated," he said, Reuters reports. | |
But an FNL spokesman said the army had started the fighting. | |
The BBC's Prime Ndikumagenge in Bujumbura says a ceasefire was agreed with the FNL more than a year ago but it has not been implemented. | The BBC's Prime Ndikumagenge in Bujumbura says a ceasefire was agreed with the FNL more than a year ago but it has not been implemented. |
Witnesses have told him they saw troops and armoured vehicles heading to the hillsides north of the capital, shortly before the shelling started. | Witnesses have told him they saw troops and armoured vehicles heading to the hillsides north of the capital, shortly before the shelling started. |
Ex-rebel Pierre Nkurunziza was elected president in 2005 under a deal to end years of conflict between the Tutsi army and Hutu rebels. | |
More than 300,000 people died in the war sparked in 1993 by the assassination of Burundi's first Hutu head of state and democratically elected president, Melchior Ndadaye. | More than 300,000 people died in the war sparked in 1993 by the assassination of Burundi's first Hutu head of state and democratically elected president, Melchior Ndadaye. |