Chinese embassy in Burundi hit by mortar shell ( 2003-11-11 09:59) (chinadaily.com.cn)
Rebel forces bombarded Burundi's capital Monday with rockets,
killing five people, destroying part of the Chinese Embassy and striking
the home of a U.S. military attache, officials said.
Rebel fighters attacked two northern neighborhoods of Bujumbura, including an
area where diplomats and senior government officials live.
A map of
Burundi
A diplomatic sources said an office building of the Chinese Embassy in
Bujumbura was mishit by a mortar shell. There were no reports of casualties in
the Chinese embassy, but the home of a Chinese diplomat living inside the
embassy compound was destroyed by a rocket.
Chinese Ambassador Feng Zhijun told reporters that fighters from the
anti-government FNL fired ten mortar shells at the capital, with three of them
hitting the presidential palace and another one hitting the neighboring Chinese
embassy. An 80-centimeter hole was blasted open in the embassy's ceiling.
After the bombing, Burundi's Defense Minister Cyrille Ndayirukiye and Foreign
Ministry officials inspected the scene and expressed regret.
The attack was claimed by the National Liberation Forces (FNL), a
Hutu rebel group, and took place a fortnight before the Forces for the Defence
of Democracy (FDD), a larger rebel group which has signed a ceasefire and
power-sharing deal with the government, was due to join the ranks of an enlarged
administration.
During the attack, four civilians were killed, including a young girl and
three boys, before the rebels withdrew into the hills north and east of the
capital.
Another civilian was killed when the rebels fired four rockets into the
wealthy Kiriri neighborhood. The home of a Chinese diplomat living inside that
country's embassy compound was destroyed by a rocket, and an automobile
belonging to the U.S. military attache was destroyed when a rocket hit his
home.
The National Liberation Front and Forces for the Defense of Democracy are the
two main Hutu rebel groups in the central African nation.
Hutus are fighting for a greater share of power. The country has long been
run by the Tutsi minority. More than 200,000 people have died in the 10-year
civil war, mostly civilians.
Pasteur Habimana, a rebel spokesman, said the attack was
in retaliation for army assaults on rebel positions in the hills overlooking the
capital.
"We have no other option, we have been attacked for two weeks. If the army
want to occupy our positions, we will occupy theirs in the capital in return,"
Habimana said.
China urges Burundi to guarantee diplomats' safety
The Chinese government urged Burundi to take effective measures to guarantee
the safety of the Chinese embassy and its personnel, said Foreign Ministry
spokesman Liu Jianchao Tuesday.
At a regular press conference, Liu said that one office building of the
Chinese Embassy in Bujumbura was accidentally hit by a mortar shell and damaged
to a certain extent during the fierce fighting between the Burundian government
army and the Forces for National Liberation's rebels, which broke out early
Monday morning in Burundi's capital Bujumbura.
"Fortunately nobody was killed or injured," added the spokesman.
Attaching great importance to this issue, Liu noted that the central Chinese
leadership asked the foreign ministry to find out details and extend sympathy to
the embassy staff.
The Chinese embassy officials took up the matter with the related Burundi
department, and Burundi defense minister and officials of the Burundi foreign
ministry also went to the spot and promised to beef up the defense of the
embassy.
