Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye has awarded a hero's medal to the eldest son of former President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Lieutenant Kelly Nkurunziza was awarded the national medal by his father's successor during Wednesday's Independence Day celebrations.

The younger Nkurunziza was commissioned as an army officer in March by his father to the rank of second-lieutenant after he finished commando training in the country.

He was subsequently promoted to the rank of lieutenant a day before the July 1 celebrations.

The former president died in office last month.

“Because of his discipline and heroism, everyone who saw him says ‘this young man will become something," Mr Ndayishimiye, who was a close ally of the late president, said.

The president also rewarded two soldiers including one who was recently killed as he "bravely fought the neighbour of the north" in Lake Rweru, near the border with Rwanda.

In May, Burundi and Rwanda soldiers clashed at the border lake, in one of several recent military incidents that reflect the five-year lon tensions between the two neighbours.