Exchange of gunfire on border with Tanzania

The Burundian army has confirmed that there was an exchange of fire on the common border with Tanzania. “The firing came from the Tanzanian side of the border and we lost a number of soldiers in the process. This action is not in conformity with the spirit of cooperation as set out in last week’s Burundi peace agreement signed by the Tanzanian president as a witness. Our defence minister is in touch with his Tanzanian counterpart on the incident,” the Burundian army spokesman, Colonel Longin Minani, told IRIN on Tuesday. The Tanzania-based independent daily, ‘The Guardian’, reported on Tuesday that the Tanzanian army had last week exchanged fire with Burundian rebels on the common border. The rebels were at the time fleeing fierce fighting with Burundian government troops. The Burundian authorities accuse the Tanzanian army of backing the predominantly Hutu rebels in the fighting against government troops. Tanzania, which has been hosting the Burundian peace talks for the past three years, denies backing the rebels.