Two killed, four wounded in attack on displaced camp

Two people were killed and four wounded during an attack by rebels on Biniganyi camp in Nyanza Lac, southwestern Burundi, an official from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Burundi told IRIN on Tuesday.

According to the official, 40 to 60 houses were burnt in the attack, which took place on the night of 17-18 April. "From mid-April, groups of rebels started by initially looting from the displaced people's camp. On the night of 17-18 April they actually attacked the camp," he said.

"There is no information whether the families attacked were targeted," the official said. The camp is host to between 800 and 1,000 people. He said, however, that returnees still continued to arrive in the camp.

An analyst on Burundi affairs told IRIN on Tuesday that Nyanza Lac was one of the areas where a lot of returnees were expected. "It seems like this attack was carried out to detabilise the process of the refugee return," he said.

Unverified reports have been circulating that as many as 60 people were killed in this attack.