Most recently, in 1988, 5,000 to 10,000 Hutu were massacred by the Tutsi-led army.

Dating to 1993, war between the Tutsi-led army and Hutu rebels has killed about 300,000 people.

The Tutsi-led army and Hutu rebel groups say they will attack any peacekeeping force that enters without their permission.

During the last few years, human rights groups say, up to 150,000 civilians have been killed, often in massacres carried out by Hutu guerrillas or the Tutsi-led army.

In both Burundi and Rwanda, Hutu form a majority of the population, but both countries now have Tutsi-led armies.

For weeks, Tutsi-led army and militia units have been attacking Hutu civilians, killing scores, even hundreds at a time.

Those attacks were followed by the flight of Hutu when a Tutsi-led army took power in Rwanda several months later.

The civil war, which began in 1993, pits the Tutsi-led army against various rebels from the ethnic majority Hutus.

In contrast, the Tutsi-led army promised stability and peace.

For months, the Hutu refused to leave the camps, saying they feared they would be killed by the Tutsi-led army.