Two soldiers and a civilian were killed near Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, yesterday when the funeral cortege of an officer killed in a weekend rebel offensive was ambushed in a cemetery.
Several cars in the convoy had already reached the ground of Mpanda cemetery, 10 km north of Bujumbura, and came under fire from machine guns, rockets and grenades.
One soldier died instantly when a rocket smashed through the windscreen of a car. Another soldier and a civilian died from gunshot wounds.
The deaths bring to 42 the total number of people known to have been killed in the latest bout of fighting in the capital, according to a provisional toll. Eighteen of the dead were civilians.
After the latest attack soldiers at the funeral ceremony returned fire, using artillery among other weapons. A dozen officers in dress uniform were among those at the funeral.
The attack took place in a known supply corridor used by rebels of the National Liberation Forces, who launched an attack on Bujumbura's northern district of Kinama on Saturday.
The army claims to have since retaken Kinama and to have been conducting mopping-up operations in the area.
A civilian was killed on Thursday night by a mortar shell in Bujumbura as the army claimed to have cleared the last Hutu rebels from the northern area of Kinama.
The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, has expressed dismay over the resumption of heavy fighting in Burundi and has called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Mr Annan said he was "deeply dismayed at the outbreak of renewed fighting".
As the sporadic skirmishes continued, 52,000 civilians caught in the crossfire huddled in makeshift camps.