BUJUMBURA, 27 March (IRIN) - A Burundi Ministry of Defence official said on Thursday that 68 rebels loyal to Pierre Nkurunziza and four government soldiers died during three days of intense fighting in the west-central province of Muramvya.
The official, Serge Nizigiyimana, said the fighting occurred around the Kavumu and Musenyi hills in Muramvya. He said the army captured 10 rebels of Nkurunziza's faction of the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD), 29 machine guns and a large quantity of ammunition. Nizigiyimana said four government soldiers were wounded. However, CNDD-FDD commander, Manace Nzobonimpa, said the government's figure for the death toll was propaganda.

Nizigiyimana, who is in charge of communication at the ministry, said the rebels had come from Kiganda Commune, Muramvya, and intended to go into their Kibira forest hideout.

Although the government and Nkurunziza's CNDD-FDD have signed a ceasefire agreement, sporadic fighting continues. On 13 March, an army officer, his bodyguard and 13 rebels died during heavy fighting at Muhwazi, Nyabitsinda Commune, in the eastern province of Ruyigi.

The African Union pledged in February to send a peacekeeping mission in Burundi but Ethiopia, Mozambique and South Africa, the countries that agreed to contribute troops to the mission, have yet to deploy them.

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