Hutu rebels bombarded Burundi's capital Monday with rockets, killing five people, destroying part of the Chinese Embassy and striking the home of a U.S. military attache, officials said. Fighters from the National Liberation Front attacked two northern neighborhoods of Bujumbura, including an area where diplomats and senior government officials live. "The attack started at midnight and was really very intense as rebels attacked shooting in all directions and exploding grenades," said Mathias Karimwabo, the official in charge of the Kamenge neighborhood. Four civilians were killed, including a young girl and three boys, before the rebels withdrew into the hills north and east of the capital, he said.
| A girl and three boys is a pretty hot military target, if you're a Hutu, I guess... |
Karimwabo said rebel fighters have attacked the area several times in recent weeks, but not with such intensity. "It seems the rebels want to besiege some parts of the capital, but they meet army strong resistance," said Col. Augustin Nzabampema, an army spokesman. Another civilian was killed when the rebels fired four rockets into the wealthy Kiriri neighborhood. The home of a Chinese diplomat living inside that country's embassy compound was destroyed by a rocket, and an automobile belonging to the U.S. military attache was destroyed when a rocket hit his home.
| Sounds like Riyadh on a Saturday night... |
The National Liberation Front is one of two main Hutu rebel groups in the central African nation. The other, Forces for the Defense of Democracy, signed a peace deal with the government earlier this month.
So all its troops signed up with NLF and kept on raping and looting fighting... |
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