Troops forming the first ever African Union (AU) peacekeeping force began arriving in the Burundian capital on Sunday charged with strengthening a fragile ceasefire in the war-ravaged country.
Some 100 South African troops flew into Bujumbura, the first of a 3 500-strong force that will comprise units from South Africa, Ethiopia and Mozambique.
The force’s South African commander, General Sipha Bindo, arrived with the troops, who headed to a camp near the airport, Burundian border police said.
More soldiers and equipment were due to arrive in the coming days, while 43 AU observers, deployed in the country since February, were also due to join the peacekeepers.
The mission to Burundi is the first of its kind by the African Union, whose predecessor, the Organisation for African Unity, was often criticised for failing to tackle the continent’s conflicts.
The peacekeepers are being dispatched to reinforce a December ceasefire, aimed at ending Burundi’s civil war, which began in 1993 when Hutu armed groups rose up against the Tutsi-dominated government and army.
A decade later, the war smoulders on and more than 300 000 people have been killed.
The ceasefire has come under severe strain in recent weeks, with renewed fighting between government troops and one of the most active rebel groups, the Hutu Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD).
At least 10 civilians died this month in a series of mortar attacks by the FDD on Bujumbura, while the army claimed to have killed 26 rebels in a counterattack.
Meanwhile, the FDD has expressed deep mistrust of the AU force, which is also intended to oversee the demobilisation of rebel fighters, saying it appeared to be coming to reinforce the army.
Symbolically, the AU peacekeepers are arriving in time for a historic changeover at the country’s presidency.
On Wednesday, incumbent President Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, is due to hand power over to the current vice president, Domitien Ndayizeye, a Hutu, for the second half of a three-year transitional power-sharing period.
The power-sharing plan aims to redress the balance of power in a country where Hutus make up 85% of the population, but which has been traditionally dominated by Tutsis. – Sapa-AFP