Burundians have put up with 10 years of civil war

The governor of the province encircling the capital, Bujumbura Rural, Ignace Ntawembarira, told the BBC that more than 40,000 civilians had fled a week of fighting between the ethnic Tutsi-dominated government forces and Hutu rebels.

The governor said most of the displaced people had been sleeping in the open.

He described them as utterly destitute and in need of urgent aid.

The United States has called on the rebels to stop the fighting and enter talks with the Burundi Government.

Rebels fired more shells during the night at Bujumbura. There was some damage, but no casualties.

Fresh offensive

Non-emergency staff at the US embassy have started to leave Burundi, reports the French news agency, AFP.

The Burundi army, struggling for control of Bujumbura, said on Monday that 28 ethnic Hutu rebels had been killed in a fresh offensive and most of the victims were child fighters aged between 11- and 15-years-old.

BURUNDI WAR Some 300,000 killed since 1993 Tutsi minority dominated since independence Hutu rebels demand army reform Nelson Mandela power-sharing plan failed to stop fighting

Fighting, which broke out between the Hutu rebel group of National Liberation Forces, (FNL), and the Tutsi-dominated army in the capital a week ago, has claimed about 170 lives, according to the United Nations.

Scores of people have been wounded, and more than 15,000 have fled their homes.

On Tuesday, talks took place in the Ugandan capital Kampala, between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and South African Vice President Jacob Zuma - both of whom are involved in regional efforts to end the war.

The ethnic Hutu rebels have been demanding the resignation of the ethnically mixed government, including President Domitien Ndayizeye, a Hutu, who took over the presidency from a Tutsi in April as part of a peace plan.

The assault on Bujumbura during the past week has been the fiercest for years.

Hardline

The UN Security Council issued a statement last week expressing deep concern and calling for an unconditional and immediate end to the attacks.

The FNL is the smaller but more hardline of the two rebel groups opposing the government.

It has refused to take part in peace talks, or to join a ceasefire signed in December 2002 by the main rebel group, the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) and the government.

A 3,000-strong force of African Union (AU) peacekeepers is in Burundi as part of AU efforts to end the conflict, which has killed an estimated 300,000 people.