/ 18 February 2002

BURUNDI REBELS KILL 1, INJURE 4 IN AMBUSH

REBELS in eastern Burundi killed a civilian and seriously wounded four others, including a senior UN aid worker, during a raid in the province of Ruyigi. The attack occurred on Saturday when rebels from the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) ambushed a private vehicle, a source said. “The driver died during the attack and the local head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) Charles Gatoto was seriously wounded, as well as three others including a local employee from the German aid agency GTZ,” the source added. Four civilians and five rebels have been killed in FDD attacks over recent days in the centre and east of the country in what the army described Saturday as “a renewal of rebel activity” in those regions. – AFP