Ten killed in Burundi rebel attacks, army says
BUJUMBURA, 24 February (Reuters) - The Burundian army said on Monday Hutu rebels killed 10 civilians and injured three others in unprovoked attacks at the weekend, a charge the rebels denied.
The main rebel group in Burundi, the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), signed a peace deal with the government in December but has continued fighting.
On Friday the faction said it was suspending direct talks with President Pierre Buyoya because he had not respected the truce and would retaliate to any army attacks.
"These (weekend) attacks are related to the last statement of this rebel movement, it threatened to intensify attacks and now it is doing it," an army spokesman said.
He listed three attacks on Sunday, in north and central Burundi, saying they were unprovoked.
"There was no direct contact between the army and FDD rebels, these are acts of robbery and criminality," he said.
The FDD said it had not been involved in the attacks, and would only fight defensively, if attacked by the army.
Several Hutu factions are fighting the Tutsi-led government in Burundi in a war that has killed around 300,000 people since 1993.
The FDD, along with two smaller factions, has agreed to a peace deal which would see the rebel groups disarm, though fighting has continued since the deal was signed in December.
The second main rebel group in Burundi, the Forces for National Liberation, have stayed outside the peace process.
