Burundi clashes leave 20 dead

Burundi's army said today it had killed 17 fighters from the Forces for National Liberation (FNL) in clashes with the guerrilla group.

Army spokesman Colonel Adolphe Manirakiza said one soldier and two civilians were also killed in the incidents, which took place late yesterday and early on Saturday in Gatumba district, 13 km west of the capital Bujumbura.

"There was first an armed robbery attack by the FNL, and government troops intervened to stop it. But FNL rebels shot and threw hand grenades at our troops, who have retaliated strongly," said Manirakiza. Six soldiers were also injured.

Police earlier accused rebels belonging to the FNL, a Hutu group, of killing three officers during a shootout at the home of a government official near Bujumbura last Sunday.

The army blamed the same rebels for killing two soldiers in another gun attack in a northern suburb of Bujumbura on Monday.

In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, FNL spokesman Pasteur Habimana was not available for comment. FNL leaders are meeting the South African chief mediator Charles Nqakula in an attempt to break the deadlock in peace efforts.

Talks to implement a September 2006 peace deal between Burundi's government and the FNL have been suspended since last July, when FNL members walked out of a truce monitoring team, accusing mediators of bias.

The FNL's persistent insurgency is regarded by many as the final barrier to lasting stability in the tiny central African nation, where 300,000 people died in more than a decade of ethnic conflict.