Troops and rebels clash in Burundi

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.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in what an army spokesman called an attack on Bujumbura at 11.30am (10.30am Irish time) from the south-west. The rebels were turned back, he added.