Security Minister Salvator Ntihabose said the curfew would apply from 1900 to 0500 in the southern Musaga and Kanyosha districts.

More that 15 people have died - and 30,000 have fled their homes - in the clashes between FNL and FDD rebels in Mubimbi, a Bujumbura commune.

Talks between Burundi President Domitien Ndayizeye and FDD leader Pierre Nkurunziza in Tanzania, involving several heads of state, broke down on Tuesday.

In December 2000, the FDD and the government signed a ceasefire agreement that has been flouted by both sides, but the FNL has refused to hold talks with the government.

Spreading

Fighting in the north-west province of Bubanza and rural Bujumbura has now spilled over into Kinama and Kamenge, the northern outskirts of the capital, where both groups have supporters.

The Burundian Government believes that restricting the movement of people will contain the conflict - even though Kinama residents say they have witnessed fighting in broad daylight.

Meanwhile, the government has allowed back on the air Radio Isanganiro, one of two private radio stations which were banned after broadcasting interviews with rebel officials and reporting on the failure of the peace talks.