Rwandan rebels killed 34 villagers in a mid-week attack on a commune in the troubled north-west of the country, officials said yesterday.

"A large group of militiamen armed with guns, machetes, axes and clubs raided Jenda settlement, broke into houses and started the butchery," Mr Boniface Rucagu, the governor of Ruhengeri, told the Rwanda News Agency.

Mr Rucagu said 30 people died on the spot and 13 were seriously wounded. "Three of the wounded later died and the body of a deaf resident who had been abducted by the rebels was also found," he said.

He added that the rebels had not distinguished between Tutsi and Hutu villagers during the slaughter.