Army Claims Control of Rebel-Held Areas

The army said it had repulsed a rebel attack on Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, and retaken control of suburban areas held by insurgents for the past four days.

Gunfire has echoed over Bujumbura since Saturday, and firing appeared to have resumed in the Hutu suburb of Kinama, where the Tutsi-dominated army said it was in control and “cleaning out” the rebels.

Ethnic Hutu rebels disputed the army’s claim.

The army said the fighting has claimed 37 lives: six soldiers, 23 rebels and eight civilians. But the rebels said they had lost only three people and that the army’s losses were “enormous.”