"The troops will be here before May 1," South African General Sipho Binda said in Bujumbura.

When Binda left for Burundi earlier Wednesday, Colonel John Rolt, South African National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesman, said he was assessing the situation ahead of the arrival of an expected force of some 3,200 troops.

"He has travelled to Burundi to go and look at the situation and to make an appraisal," Rolt told AFP.

Officials in Bujumbura said that the force, acting under the authority of the African Union, will initially be made up of 1,500 troops from South Africa, 900 from Ethiopia and 200 from Mozambique.

Binda arrived in Burundi, where civil war has raged since 1993, with about 50 soldiers from South Africa and Mozambique, who will form part of his general staff.

The general is due to remain in Burundi for a week before returning to South Africa.

The force's deployment comes at a time when a ceasefire reached between government forces and the main Hutu rebel group, the Forces for the Defence of Democracy, shows little sign of holding.

Both sides accuse the other of violating the truce.

The force's mandate will be to demobilise and disarm all armed groups and to set up an integrated national army and police force.

The African Union has already sent 43 military observers to Burundi to monitor various ceasefise accords.

SPACE.WIRE