Authorities in the southern Rwandan town of Butare have rounded up more than nine-hundred people, most of them street children.

Police say the children are being sent to educational centres.

A BBC correspondent in Kigali says this is the latest in a series of measures aimed at removing from the streets large numbers of children who the authorities allege are behind acts of theft.

Our correspondent adds that there's a climate of general insecurity in Rwanda with frequent attacks in some areas by rebel Hutu militias and the government has been taking strict measures against people without valid documents.