Police clashed on Thursday night with “armed bandits” in northwest Burundi, leaving at least one civilian and one policeman wounded, police and witnesses said yesterday.

“Last night (Thursday) at around 7 p.m. (1700 GMT), we received a report that a group of armed bandits in army uniform had infiltrated the Buganda region,” said Cibitoke provincial police commissioner Jerome Ntibibogora.

“These criminals opened fire on a police patrol that was looking for them and who retaliated,” he added.

According to several witnesses contacted in Buganda, the armed gang fired at the police station and “very heavy shooting” lasted for two hours, driving dozens of people to flee their homes and spend the night in the bush.

“These clashes left two injured, a policeman and a civilian... then the bandits fled and escaped the police officers sent in pursuit by crossing the border into the DR Congo from whence they came,” said the administrator of Buganda district, Isidore Ntakarutimana.

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