(SomaliNet) Recent clashes between the Burundian army and National Liberation Forces (FNL) rebels have alarmed the United Nations Security Council, an official said. "The members of the Security Council reiterated their concern at the recent confrontation between the Palipehutu-Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) and the national defence forces of Burundi following attacks by the FNL in violation of the comprehensive ceasefire agreement," Britain's Deputy Permanent Representative Karen Pierce said in a statement released here late Thursday. Pierce said the council "noted with satisfaction" that an FNL delegation had recently returned to the capital Bujumbura and that a peace drive, the Joint Verification and Monitoring Mechanism, had resumed its work. "They urged the parties to seize this opportunity to definitively consolidate peace in Burundi, by engaging without reservations in dialogue to overcome their differences, and to reach rapidly a concerted, peaceful and sustainable solution to the current crisis," she added.
On Thursday, Burundi's army launched an offensive against the FNL in the east of the country despite a resumption of ceasefire implementation talks with the insurgents. Agencies said troops attacked the insurgents in Mbare and Gasarara, five kilometres (three miles) east of Bujumbura, local administrator Maximilien Ngendakuriyo told AFP.
Burundi is struggling to recover from civil unrest which erupted in 1993 and killed an estimated 300,000 people.