(Adds details, quotes, background) BUJUMBURA, April 18 (Reuters) - Rebels from Burundi's last guerrilla group fired mortar bombs at government positions in clashes that killed 10 rebels and four soldiers, an army spokesman said on Friday. The military's deputy spokesman Colonel Justace Ciza said the fighting, which started late Thursday and continued into Friday morning, was centred on the rebel stronghold of Bubanza some 50 Km (30 miles) northwest of the capital Bujumbura. Despite a September 2006 peace deal, the rebel Forces for National Liberation (FNL) continue to mount sporadic attacks. Last month 20 people, mainly soldiers and rebels, were killed in fighting on the outskirts of Bujumbura. "FNL rebels shelled mortar bombs and threw hand grenades on our different positions ... but we retaliated," Ciza said. "We deplore the death of four soldiers. On the rebel side, 10 of them were killed, and...five guns seized." However, an FNL spokesman denied the report and accused the army of provocation. "We were attacked by government troops who were deployed in a large number to our different positions. This was self- defence," said FNL spokesman Pasteur Habimana from Dar Es Salaam. The FNL's persistent insurgency is regarded by many as the final barrier to lasting stability in the tiny coffee-growing nation, where 300,000 people were killed in more than a decade of ethnic conflict. (Reporting by Patrick Nduwimana, editing by Ralph Boulton)
Rescue workers salvage property at the crash site of the Hewa Bora Airways passenger jet in Goma, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern North Kivu province, April 16, 2008. The ...
