Army spokesman Col. Gaspard Baratuza said that 95 of those killed were members of a rebel group that
entered Burundi from bordering Congo. Nine rebels were also arrested from the group that is yet to be
identified, he said.

Two government soldiers had also been killed in the fighting that started a week ago some 60 kilometers
northwest of the capital, Bujumbura, Baratuza said.

"We decided to bury the dead rebels in the gardens of residents of the area to avoid a human
catastrophe such as diseases and the stench that comes from the dead bodies but we are looking at how
their remains can be moved," the military official said.

Burundi’s government released information about the fighting after a civil society organization in
Burundi accused government forces of quickly burying the bodies to avoid scrutiny from rights groups
saying the government executed the rebels after they surrendered.

Vital Nshimirimana, the head of the local civil society platform Forum Pour le Renforcement de la Societe
Civile (FORSC), called for investigations into reports that the army violated the rights of those
caught.

Col Baratuza denied the accusations.

"No one was killed after surrendering or after being arrested," he said.

Between 180 to 200 rebels were thought to have crossed from Eastern Congo into Burundi where they
launched the attack, he said.

Eastern Congo is home to a myriad of armed groups and militias.

In 2009, the government signed a peace agreement with Burundi’s last rebel group, raising hopes of a
return to a more durable peace.

The attack in Burundi comes ahead of a crucial presidential and parliamentary vote scheduled for May and
June. The tiny nation is still on a recovery path after more than a decade of civil war that underscored
long-standing ethnic tensions between the country’s Hutu and Tutsi people.