At Least 50 Hutus Killed In Burundi

Burundi soldiers killed at least 50 Hutu rebels following deadly attacks against Roman Catholic targets earlier in the week, the military acknowledged Friday.

The heavy violence of the past days drew condemnation from the Vatican, the United Nations, and from U.S. officials who blamed both sides for targeting innocent citizens.

The army’s attack against Hutu rebels took place Thursday in provinces south of the capital along Lake Tanganyika, Maj. Mamert Sinarinzi said. He did not say whether any soldiers or civilians also were killed.

Hutu rebels on Wednesday had killed as many as 46 people in an attack on a Roman Catholic seminary in Butu, about 9 miles east of the southern provincial capital of Bururi.