Fighting displaces another 3,000

An estimated 3,000 civilians were displaced on Saturday following fighting between rebels and government troops in the northwestern province of Bujumbura Rural. The displaced sought refuge in the commune of Kabezi in an area under the control of UN peacekeepers. Kabezi already hosts some 30,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a result of persistent insecurity due to fighting between the army and the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) led by Agathon Rwasa. Burundian military spokesman Adolphe Manirakiza said four soldiers were wounded in the latest FNL attack, which targeted the marine brigade at Kabezi. Rwasa's faction of the FNL is the only rebel group that has not concluded a peace treaty with Burundi's government. Military sources in Burundi said FNL seemd to have opted for military action rather than negotiations with the government. The sources added that the FNL had recently increased attacks in Bujumbura Rural, its stronghold. Manirakiza alleged that the FNL was receiving support from a former Congolese militia, the Mayi-Mayi, and from a Rwandan militia, known as Interahamwe, which operates from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Burundi has blamed a coalition of FNL, Mayi-Mayi and Interahamwe fighters for an attack on 13 August on Congolese Tutsi refugees at the Gatumba transit camp in Bujumbura Rurale. At least 160 refugees were killed during the attack and hundreds others injured. At a weekly news conference in the capital, Bujumbura, the spokeswoman for the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB), Isabelle Abric, said on Friday an ONUB team was working in close collaboration with the UN Mission in the DRC and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on a report on an ongoing investigation into the Gatumba massacre to be submitted to the UN Security Council. The Gatumba killings prompted the closure of the Burundi-DRC border. Burundi's authorities announced the reopening of their side of the border on Wednesday and DRC reopened its side on Saturday but closed it again on Sunday. Moreover, a bombing incident on Monday on the Burundi-DRC border threatened to revive tensions between the two countries. Military sources in Bujumbura said several bombs were dropped on Gatumba, outside Bujumbura, from the direction of the DRC. The sources said there were no casualties as the bombs fell on the border.