Almost 60,000 civilians have fled their homes in central Burundi over the last week because of clashes between the army and Hutu rebels of the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), military and local government sources said today.
"In Bugendana commune, there are 6,990 households that have fled, in Giheta 1,477 households and in Itaba 995. That's 59,941 people in all," the Gitega provincial governor said.
He said most of the displaced, who began leaving their homes on January 17th, had sought refuge in neighbouring hills.
"These people's predicament is serious because they have moved without food and have no shelter while they face an outbreak of malaria during this rainy season," they said.
The army, which is dominated by the country's Tutsi minority, confirmed the civilian displacements.
A preliminary truce between the FDD and the government was meant to have come into force on December 6th, but there have been several clashes since then.
A fully-fledged ceasefire had originally been due to come into effect on December 30th, but this date has been indefinitely postponed.
"There have been no major clashes but the usual skirmishes which have become more frequent in several parts of Gitega," an army spokesman said.
"The rebels are moving in small units, obtaining supplies (such as food) from the local population and forcing them to flee, all the more so because they (the civilians) have received strict instructions to leave as soon as rebels are sighted," he added.
AFP