ONLY two different types of gamma-ray transient sources are presently known : over one thousand gamma-ray bursters (GRBs) and only three soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs). The latter are distinguished by their propensity for recurrent burst behaviour(1-3), in contrast to the nonrepeating GRB sources. Recurrent emission from one of the repeaters, SGR1900+14, has been detected(4) earlier by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) aboard the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. Here we report renewed burst activity from SGR1806-20, the most prolific of the three known SGRs. This detection of reactivation of this source has been rapidly followed by identification of an X-ray counterpart(5,6), which also coincides with a compact radio source(7) now identified as a plerionic (pulsar-powered) supernova remnants. In combination, these results are leading to a convergence of ideas about the nature of SGRs, which can now be firmly identified as neutron stars. That BATSE has detected no new sources in its two and a half years of operation indicates that SGRs are rare in our Galaxy.