BBC News Online: World: Africa

Burundi's big push against rebels

Buyoya's troops cannot stay deployed indefinitely

Loud explosions were heard by city residents on Monday morning and a spokesman for the rebels of the National Liberation Forces, FNL, said the military were using aircraft to bomb their positions.

Hutu rebels have continued their campaign of violence, with a series of new attacks since an interim power-sharing government was formed in Burundi at the beginning of the month.

The latest rebel position is that they are prepared to negotiate a ceasefire, but only with the Tutsi-dominated army.

Schools out

All schools in Kinama and Kamenge neighbourhoods which border the forest were closed throughout the day, the French news agency, AFP reports.

One of its reporters said army tanks were positioned around Tenga and there were rockets launchers around the airport in the capital Bujumbura.

"We have set up a cordon to contain the rebels and we are going to go in after we have prepared the ground with artillery," AFP quoted a senior officer as saying.

Last Saturday the FNL and another rebel group, the Front for the Defence of Democracy, held talks on a joint approach to the war against the the new government.

Euro-aid

This joint effort, it is understood, could make it more difficult to bring this eight-year old conflict, which has killed thousands of people to a close.

The FNL in December last year launched an attack in Tenga which killed 300 people.

They followed that up with a hit on the capital and occupied Kinama for a few days.

The ethnically mixed government was over the weekend promised a 65-million euro ($57m) grant by the European Union to help reconstruct a war shattered economy.