Burundi’s lone remaining rebel group launched overnight attacks on government military bases on the outskirts of the capital after reruns of key local elections in six violence-hit districts, the army said on Wednesday.
Rebels from the National Liberation Forces (FNL) opened fire on several positions just south of Bujumbura in attacks that lasted about an hour but caused no casualties, army spokesperson Adolphe Manikariza said.
”The FNL last night attacked military positions in Busiro locality, adjacent to Kanyosha,” he said. ”There were no casualties on the army’s side.”
Busiro is located in western Bujumbura Rural province, a stronghold of the Hutu insurgents who are accused of numerous attacks since agreeing to a tentative truce with the government last month.
No FNL officials could be reached for comment.
On Tuesday, the army accused the rebels of shelling several districts in and around the capital, destroying property and injuring one person, as well as attacking army posts.
It said the attacks were aimed at disrupting re-votes in Friday’s municipal elections in districts where polling stations had been forced to close early due to violence.
Last week’s polls were the country’s first for elected office since the beginning of a brutal civil war that killed about 300 000 people.
The 12-year civil war was driven by long-standing rifts between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority, which had monopolised the army and other centres of power since independence from Belgium in 1962 but which is expected to be marginalised under the new political system. — Sapa-AFP