Burundian army says 500 killed

More than 500 rebel troops are reported to have been killed in fighting in Burundi.

A senior military officer says the army has retaken a strategic area north of the capital.

He called it a major offensive against Burundian rebels, killing 515 insurgents and losing 28 troops.

The offensive began in Tenga, a rural, wooded area 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Bujumbura, from where rebels launched attacks on the capital.

"Tenga has been definitely liberated by the national army," Major General Samuel Gahiro said on state-run television.

Reports say rebels had fled to the Carama area, about three miles north of Bujumbura, from where they appear to be regrouping.

Rebels dismissed the government claims as "pure propaganda."

Anicet Ntawuhiganyo, a spokesman for the National Liberation Front, one of two rebels groups from the country's Hutu majority fighting the Tutsi-dominated army, said fighting has continued.

"We are still in Tenga, the fighting continues, and I can tell you the battle is very serious," he said.