At least three civilians were killed when Hutu rebels shelled the centre of the Burundian capital of Bujumbura late last night.
Muffled explosions were heard when several shells fell on densely populated districts in Bujumbura, wounding 15 people in the latest attacks by rebels fighting a nine-year-old civil war, witness said today.
"At first we didn't hear anything, then we felt a huge wind," a resident of the mainly Muslim district of Buyenzi told reporters. "Then we saw fire and clouds of smoke, and this is when we started to flee".
The army said the attack was most likely carried out by the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), one of two main Hutu rebel groups who have been fighting the Tutsi-dominated army since 1993.
Fighting has intensified since early July when rebels attacked southern and eastern Burundi from neighbouring Tanzania. More than 200,000 people have been killed in Burundi's civil war.
A new government sharing power between Hutus and Tutsis was inaugurated last November under a peace plan intended to steer the tiny central African country away from ethnic conflict.
But the two main rebel groups - the FNL and the Forces for the Defence of Democracy - have refused to sign a ceasefire, saying the army is still dominated by Tutsis.