“Ten days before the power handover in the Burundian transitional government, mortar fire became even heavier on the outskirts of the capital, Bujumbura.It is against this background that the African Union (AU) has decided to deploy troops to Burundi to safeguard the cantonment areas and to provide technical assistance to the
disarmament and demobilization process. On 3 February 2003, at a Heads of State and
Government meeting in Addis Ababa, the ‘African Mission in Burundi’, or AMIB was approved. The mission will see soldiers from South Africa, Mozambique and Ethiopia deployed in Burundi. This situation report will give an update on the political and military situation in which the mission
is being deployed, as well as on the mission itself.”
