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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

BURUNDI: Army arrests two soldiers in connection with ambush

NAIROBI, 15 January 2003 (IRIN) - The Burundian army has arrested two of its soldiers in connection with an ambush last week in the capital, Bujumbura, in which 12 people were killed, according to a report by the human rights group Iteka on Tuesday.

An inquiry into the killings and the looting of property in Taba, Gihosha zone, was to follow, which might lead to further arrests, Iteka said.

The army was pursuing armed elements which had hidden in the area. Mattresses, suitcases, television sets, radios, clothes and shoes were stolen from local houses in the process, Iteka added.

Meanwhile, the army had returned goods looted last week by its soldiers during an operation in a suburb in the northeast of Bujumbura, the BBC reported on Tuesday. Ten civilians died in the operation. Local people welcomed the return of the looted property, saying that the move was proof that the suburb's residents "had good reasons to distrust the army".

The residents of Kamenge had had difficulty identifying their belongings as they were mixed up in one pile, the BBC said. Many residents reclaimed only what was theirs, while others failed to trace their property. They asked the military authorities to continue looking in areas where the suspected looters had hidden the goods.

Themes: (IRIN) Human Rights

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