1.   Earlier in the month deputies had protested against reported killings and mistreatment of nomads by the army near Tadjoura.

2.   But the severity of the crackdown - including the reported killing of civilians - has tested the patience of the rest of the world.

3.   Just before the reported killing, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda had been talking about withdrawing unilaterally from Congo.

4.   The reported killings at Musazai occurred just after the Northern Alliance announced the defection of Mirza Muhammad Nasri, a prominent Taliban commander.

5.   Ram Mohan Rao, a spokesman of the Indian-controlled government in Jammu-Kashmir, refused to comment about the reported killing.

6.   Because of the security situation in Burundi, it is extremely difficult to travel to the scenes of the reported killings.

7.   Bouhafa said the attack seemed to be part of an increasing trend of reported killings and burnings of complete villages.

8.   Bouhafa said the attack seemed to be part of an increasing trend of reported killings and burning of complete villages.

9.   Circumstances under which the reported killings took place were not immediately clear, and the report could not be independently confirmed.

10.   Circumstances under which the reported killings took place were not immediately clear, and independent confirmation of the report was not possible.