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Burundian rebel sources confirmed to IRIN on Tuesday media reports of fierce fighting between mainly-Hutu Burundian and Rwandan rebel groups. The BBC had previously reported that more than 200 Rwandan rebels had been killed in the fighting. However on Tuesday Burundi state radio reported 100 had been killed in the fighting.
A Burundi army spokesman said the army had sought to take advantage of the rift between the two groups by launching its own anti-rebel operations in the area.
"Fighting between the two groups has been going on since the night of 31 January, our information is that they are fighting over dwindling resources. We have reacted by attacking both groups to force them to disband," Burundi army spokesman Longin Minani told IRIN on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the main Burundian rebel group, CNDD-FDD, has denied
involvement in the fighting. "Our forces are not involved in the fighting, the last time we fought it was against government troops." Jerome Ndiho, FDD spokesman told IRIN on Tuesday.
In the past both the Rwandan rebels and Burundi rebels have been allied in the fight against their Tutsi-dominated governments of Bujumbura and Kigali. The current fighting has been concentrated in Bujumbura Rurale province.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions