A gun battle between Burundi’s last rebel group and soldiers broke out today on the outskirts of the capital, with gunfire echoing in the city and apparently putting an end to a ceasefire agreement reached earlier this month.

The people of Burundi appear to have overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, preliminary results showed today.

Belgium is dispatching a special envoy to central Africa in an attempt to calm rising tension in the region following the weekend massacre of at least 160 refugees at a UN camp in Burundi.