Hundreds of former child soldiers for Burundi rebels, who recently staged a mutiny demanding better conditions at a demobilisation camp, begun returning home on Wednesday, an official said.
"It's a great satisfaction for us," said Romain Ndagabwa head of the camp where they stayed for about a month in central Gitega town.
The first batch of 136 of the 340 teenagers left Wednesday and the rest will be released next week.
"This morning 136 FNL child soldiers left the Gitega demobilisation centre for their provinces of origin where they will be reunited with their families," said Ndabagwa in a telephone interview with AFP.
The child soldiers from the National Liberation Forces (FNL), Burundi's last active rebel group, had been in Gitega, 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Bujumbura, since early April awaiting demobilisation.
Aged between 16 and 17, they last week stormed out of the camp in protest to demand better food and to be speedily sent back home.
Each child is being sent off with a kit of clothes and food and will receive a transitional monthly stipend equivalent to 13 euros (17 dollars) for 18 months to allow for their reintegration into society.
A once-off payment equal to 100 euros (136 dollars) will be made out either for formal education or towards a small project of the youngster's choice.
The FNL officially became a political party on April 21 after ending its armed struggle. Around 5,000 FNL former combatants are to be disarmed alongside more than 10,000 allied fighters who will return to civilian life.
The Great Lakes nation struggled to emerge from a 13-year civil war that ended with a ceasefire in 2006 ceasefire after leaving 300,000 dead.
The civil war pitted the army, once dominated by minority Tutsis, against various rebel Hutu groups.
