The Comorian army has entered the town of Mtsumedo, the largest city in the island of Anjouan on Saturday, where rebels have been holed up for five days against President Ghazali Osmani, Education Minister Mahmoud Salim Hafei told AFP.
"The army has started to take positions inside the city since midday today, and no bullet has been fired and no house has been searched," said the minister, who is from Anjouan.
"The rebels are still holed up in houses," the minister said.
He denied there was an intention to carry out an attack that the population feared would have consequences. "We do not need to launch an attack," he said.
"I am sure that from the beginning of the two days life will return to normal and the administration will work as usual," he said.
According to the minister, who has been leading the negotiations with the rebels since Friday, the 40 opponents did not surrender their weapons on Saturday morning, although the government promised them on Friday that they would not be punished if they disarmed.
The clashes between the rebels and the army in the city killed three people this week, according to the authorities and injured at least six people were seriously injured, according to a medical source in Mtsumdo.
The authorities accuse the opposition party's Joya party and the former president of Anjouan Abdallah Sambi of being involved in the violence that erupted on Monday after protestors erected barriers that security forces removed.
