DR Congo army says several dozen Burundi rebels killed in east

DR Congo's army said Thursday that it had killed 36 Burundian rebels in a three-day operation in the eastern province of South Kivu, abutting Burundi.

Three soldiers were killed and four were injured in the operation which targeted "positions of Burundian rebels of the National Forces of Liberation (FNL) and Republican Forces of Burundi (FOREBU)," said provincial army spokesman Captain Dieudonne Kasereka.

Two senior rebel officers were killed and the FNL's chief, Aloys Nzabampema, was seriously hurt, he said.

Troops overran rebel positions at Magunda, Ruminako and Mangwa in the Uvira region and seized "several weapons of various calibres, ammunition and much communication material," said Kasereka.

FOREBU mainly comprises troops and police who deserted the Burundian security forces in the aftermath of an attempted coup against Pierre