The authorities in Burundi say five soldiers and twenty rebels were killed during a rebel attack on a relocation camp at Nyambuye not far from the capital, Bujumbura.

They did not say if any civilians died in the attack on Tuesday.

The authorities have forced more than three-hundred thousand civilians from the province surrounding Bujumbura into relocation camps since mid-September, saying this is for their own protection.

However the rebels say it's to stop the civilians helping them. Correspondents say it's only the second recent attack on a relocation camp, and may be designed to disrupt it.

In October, two United Nations officials and several Burundians were killed in what appeared to be a rebel attack on a camp in southwest Burundi.