Twelve killed in ambushes

A total of seven soldiers have been killed in the past few days in rebel ambushes in western Burundi, Burundi's Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) reported on Tuesday. On Monday afternoon, a vehicle travelling from Bujumbura to Rumonge, fell into a rebel ambush at Nyarukona in Gitaza zone, RPA said. Five people, including a soldier, were killed while four civilians were kidnapped during the incident and the vehicle burnt. In another ambush in Bubanza Province, northwestern Burundi, six soldiers were killed in an ambush on Tuesday morning as they were walking to Kivyuka market in Musigati commune, it reported. It said the soldiers were allegedly killed by rebels who recognised them. The attack was reportedly to avenge the death of Louis Sinabajije, a former leader of the rebel Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD), who was gunned down last week during a confrontation with the regular army, RPA added. Kivyuka market was deserted immediately after the exchanges of gunfire intensified between the assailants and the army, who had come to the rescue of their slain colleagues. A security official in Burundi confirmed to IRIN on Wednesday that the reported incidents had taken place, adding that there have been infiltrations by rebels from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. He added that soldiers have been trying since last week to flush out rebels in the Rukoko valley and Mutimbuzi area in western Burundi.