Fighting displaces 12,000 civilians in Bujumbura Rural

Some 12,000 civilians have fled their homes in Burundi's western province of Bujumbura Rural following the latest fighting between the army and fighters loyal to rebel leader Agathon Rwasa, Governor Ignace Ntawembarira told IRIN on Wednesday. "These people fled their homes in the last one-and-a-half weeks and are now gathered at the [southern] commune of Mutambu near the hydroelectric dam of Mugere," he said. Others have sought refuge in nearby villages. The latest fighting in the province brings to at least 60,000 the number of people displaced since fighting in September between Rwasa's Force nationales de liberation (FNL) and the Burundian army, and between the FNL and the country's largest rebel movement, the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces nationales pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) faction led by Pierre Nkurunziza. Ntawembarira said that at least 40,000 people who fled fighting in September between the CNDD-FDD and the FNl were in the northern commune of Mubimbi. These people have not returned to their homes but they are regularly receiving food assistance from the UN World Food Programme. Ntawembarira said the displaced people in Mutambu needed urgent relief aid. "I think there are preparations to assist them but the administration is also planning their return home," he added. He said another 5,000 to 6,000 residents of Bugarama and Muhuta communes were still displaced since two-and-a-half weeks ago. An information officer at the WFP Burundi office, Karine Strebelle, told IRIN that WFP was in contact with Ntawembarira to see how to help the displaced in Mutambu Commune. She said the governor had submitted to WFP a list of 12,000 displaced people at Mutambu Commune, and that the agency had planned to distribute food to them at the beginning of the week but it had to be postponed because there were no local authorities to organise the distribution. "WFP will soon resume the planned food distribution," she said. Bujumbura Rural Province, said to be an FNL stronghold, has been the most war-affected region in the country since war broke out in 1993. Local residents are often displaced in fighting between the army and the rebels.