7,000 Flee Escalating Violence in Burundi
BUJUMBURA, Burundi — An estimated 7,000 people, some suffering from malnutrition or land-mine wounds, have fled to neighboring Zaire to escape fighting in northern Burundi, a refugee official said Saturday.
The refugees are escaping clashes between extremists of the Hutu majority and the army, led by the Tutsi minority.
Escalating violence in the tiny African nation since mid-December has renewed fears that Burundi might explode into ethnic massacres similar to the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
More than 100,000 people have already died in Burundi’s ethnic violence over the past two years.
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