In the shadow of the peace talks, Burundian rebels claimed to have captured 72 government troops during two months of fighting in the center of the country and are being held in the southern rebel stronghold of Makamba, according to a senior FDD rebel official's statement on 13 August. 

However, Army spokesman Col. Augustin Nzabampema dismissed this as "a big lie". The army had been fighting about 1,000 rebel troops in eastern Ruyigi province, (170 kilometers east of the capital Bujumbura). The ethnic Hutu rebels had entered the country from Tanzania to launch attacks on 9 August and warned that any civilians who offered them support would be treated the same as the attackers. - Adam Geibel