Rebels Shelling Densely Populated Areas of Bujumbura
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UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
November 22, 2002
Posted to the web November 22, 2002
Nairobi
Burundi rebels started shelling a densely populated suburbs of the Burundi
capital, Bujumbura, on Friday, putting panic-stricken residents to flight,
the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
reported.
"There is widespread confusion," Antoine Gerard, head of OCHA-Burundi, told
IRIN.
He said the neighbourhoods of Kiriri, Kamenge, and Mutanga were being hit the
hardest, with shells falling in the vicinity of King Khaled Hospital in
Kamenge.
"OCHA is very concerned for the victims of these attacks, and given the level
of insecurity, neither UN agencies nor NGOs can reach these populations," he
said.
He said that the city centre had, so far, remained untouched.
OCHA also reported that heavy fighting between rebels and government forces
was ongoing near Kibira Forest, in Mpanda Commune of Bubanza Province,
causing an estimated 10,000 civilians to flee.
Meanwhile, Radio Publique Africaine reported that shells landed near the
Munarira centre in Rutegama commune, Muramvya Province, where those wounded
by earlier fighting had sought shelter. The total number of people dead or
wounded remains unknown.
Efforts at reaching a ceasefire in Burundi were ongoing in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.
