Burundi's army said today it had killed 50 fighters from the country's last active guerrilla group in clashes outside the capital Bujumbura.
"The Forces for National Liberation (FNL) ambushed our troops on patrol, the army then entered into heavy battle with the insurgents ... two soldiers were also killed," army spokesman Colonel Adolphe Manirakiza said.
The FNL could not immediately be reached for comment.
The battle last night in the FNL stronghold of Kabezi, 20 kilometres south of Bujumbura, brings the death toll since renewed violence broke out in April to 103.
Talks to implement a September 2006 peace deal between Burundi's government and the FNL have been suspended since last July, when FNL members walked out of a truce monitoring team, accusing mediators of bias.
The FNL's persistent insurgency is regarded by many as the final barrier to lasting stability in the tiny central African nation, where 300,000 people died in more than a decade of ethnic conflict.