{{Bujumbura (Burundi) (AFP)}} – {Security forces in Burundi said Monday they had arrested around 170 suspected rebels and seized a number of weapons in a crackdown ahead of next week’s presidential elections.}<\/p>\n
The Burundian army spokesman, Colonel Gaspard Baratuza, said the rebels were detained after clashes in the northern provinces of Kayanza and Cibitoke.<\/p>\n
Police and local officials said 30 assault rifles and ammunition were seized in the northeastern province of Muyinga.<\/p>\n
Provincial governor Aline Maniratunga said around 30 supporters of opposition leader Agathon Rwasa were arrested in the operation.<\/p>\n
A former rebel leader, Rwasa is now the main opponent of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose bid to stand for a third consecutive five-year term despite a constitutional two-term limit has sparked months of civil unrest and an attempted coup in mid-May.<\/p>\n
Burundian troops fought with rebel soldiers near the border with Rwanda over the weekend, and paraded around 80 of them in front of the media.<\/p>\n
Burundian rebel general Leonard Ngendakumana — who took part in the failed coup in May to topple Nkurunziza — has confirmed that soldiers loyal to the coup plot were involved in the fighting.<\/p>\n
“Our troops are preparing attacks to stop Nkurunziza,” he told AFP by telephone on Monday, dismissing the parading of the detainees as “propaganda”.<\/p>\n
Opposition groups say Nkurunziza’s re-election bid is unconstitutional and a violation of a peace deal that ended a dozen years of civil war in 2006.<\/p>\n
There are fears the current crisis could plunge the impoverished, landlocked country back into civil war.<\/p>\n
Parliamentary polls, in which Nkurunziza’s ruling CNDD-FDD scored a widely-expected landslide win, were held on May 29 but boycotted by the opposition and internationally condemned.<\/p>\n
Burundi’s presidency meanwhile said Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni would also arrive in Bujumbura on Tuesday as part of regional efforts to mediate an end to the crisis.<\/p>\n
The five-nation East African Community (EAC) last week called for elections to be delayed by two weeks, to July 30, to allow time for more talks between Nkurunziza’s ruling CNDD-FDD party and opposition groups — although these talks have so far made no progress.<\/p>\n
With the presidential elections now scheduled for July 21, a delay of less than a week, Museveni has been left with only several days to try to kickstart the talks.<\/p>\n
Opposition and rights groups argue that weeks of protests and a violent crackdown by security forces mean free and fair elections are impossible.<\/p>\n
The country has also been left without most of its independent media outlets, after several radio stations were attacked and destroyed in fighting during the attempted coup.<\/p>\n
Over 70 people have been killed in more than two months of protests, with over 158,000 refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries, according to the latest UN figures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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