Refugees slaughtered

Congo border, Burundi

At least 150 civilians were shot and hacked to death this week at a U.N. refugee camp in Burundi, close to the Congo border. The victims, Congolese Tutsis who fled the Congolese civil war that ended last year, were attacked as they slept. Witnesses said a gang of Burundian Hutus invaded the camp, shouting and beating drums, and killed everyone they saw. The Burundian Hutu rebel group that claimed responsibility said that Burundian soldiers and Congolese Tutsi militia had been hiding in the camp. Most of the bodies, though, were those of women and children. Burundi’s 10-year civil war ostensibly ended two years ago, with a cease-fire that included all rebel groups except the one that committed this week’s massacre.