Army launches push against rebels

Government ground forces have begun a drive against Hutu rebel strongholds in the Tenga forest about 20 km northeast of the capital, Bujumbura, army spokesman Col. Augustin Nzabampema told IRIN on Tuesday.

There are no details yet of casualties, he said, adding however, that there were no civilians in the zone of combat. He denied media reports that the government is using aircraft in the attack against the fighters of the Force nationale de liberation, or FNL. BBC reported that 300 people died when these fighters attacked Tenga in December 2000.

Fighting has intensified in Burundi since the inauguration of a power-sharing government between almost equal numbers of Hutus and Tutsis on 1 Nov. More recently, the FNL and its rival Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-pour la defence de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) announced a joint negotiation position for future peace mediation talks chaired by Gabon.

The spokesman for the Pierre Nkurunziza faction of the CNDD-FDD, Jean-Marie Ngendahayo, said that in a joint communiqué signed at the weekend with the FNL they had highlighted priorities for progress in any peace process: among which are the return of the army to barracks and the release of political prisoners.