Rebels step up war despite progress at ceasefire talks

Burundian rebels have launched several fresh attacks against government forces despite progress at ceasefire talks between the two sides, being held in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam. Units of Burundi's main rebel group, the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Force pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD), lobbed 13 mortar bombs into Burundi's second-largest city, Gitega, on Sunday. "One shell fell near the school for the blind at Mushasha, another fell near the girls' secondary school, ENF, but it seemed many were directed at the Bragita brewery," a Gitega resident told IRIN on Sunday. "Thank God, no one was killed or wounded." Burundi's Net Press reported that the town's electricity supply was interrupted during the attack after a high-voltage line was hit. Elsewhere on Sunday, government troops killed 51 rebels heading for Zina, in the northwestern province of Bubanza, the army spokesman, Col Augustine Mzabampema, said. He made no mention of government losses or of the identity of the rebels. But the administrator of Buganda Commune, Emmanuel Bigirimana, said, "[There] were more than a thousand rebels, mostly Rwandan [Hutu] Interahamwe [militias]." He said thousands of people fled their homes. On Saturday, in the nation's capital, Bujumbura, the hardline rebel Parti de liberation du peuple hutu-Forces nationales de liberation attacked the western suburb of Buterere, killing two people and wounding 10 others, Mayor Pontien Niyongabo said. "They took all the medicines in the Buterere health centre," he added. Meanwhile, Radio Burundi reported that at the talks in Tanzania, "the technical teams [of the CNDD-FDD and the government] are working in perfect cooperation on the ceasefire preamble".