Rebels creating “obsessive fear”, minister says

Burundi Defence Minister Cyrille Ndayirukiye has spoken of an “obsessive fear” in the capital Bujumbura due to “the psychological war being waged via rebel propaganda”. According to the Agence burundaise de presse (ABP), he told a news conference on Monday that the security situation in 80 percent of national territory was calm “despite the rebel propaganda”. He added that the army was “neutralising” the rebels’ aim to deploy inside the country, but acknowledged that the rebels could “cause damage in any corner of Bujumbura to gain publicity”. He also denied that the security forces were “giving in” to regionalism and ethnicity, saying such allegations were manoeuvres aimed at undermining the army’s morale.