‘46 killed’ in streets of Burundi capital amid coordinated attacks on military
BUJUMBURA: At least 46 bodies have been counted after violence in the Bujumbura in the past two days, a local human rights group said.
Many of those killed had been detained in prisons for protesting against President Pierre Nkurunziza, said Anschaire Nikoyagize, the president of the Burundian League for Human Rights.
Many of those killed had bullet wounds and appeared to have been executed, Mr Nikoyagize said.
Military sources, who asked not to be named, said seven government soldiers were arrested for working with armed groups who attacked military sites on Friday. Army spokesman Gaspard Baratuza told state radio that three soldiers were killed on Friday by an unidentified group in the Ngagara, Musaga and Mujejuru areas.
He said the army had killed 12 of the attackers and 20 others were arrested.
Earlier yesterday, local administrators said scores of bodies had been found in at least two neighborhoods in Bujumbura, where protests against Mr Nkurunziza’s government took place in April.
At least 17 people were killed on Friday as fighting broke out at an army barracks in Bujumbura and at Mujejuru in Bujumbura province. Gunfire and explosions rang out across the city, bringing the normally bustling capital to a standstill.
A military spokesman said the insurgents wanted to seize military equipment from the barracks in order to free inmates from various prisons.
Recent clashes in Burundi have typically seen loyalists, consisting mainly of police and the youth wing of the ruling party, known as Imbonerakure, standing off against various armed groups opposed to Mr Nkurunziza. A source in the intelligence service who asked not to be named said that many of the rebels opposed to Mr Nkurunziza are thought to be army deserters loyal to Godefroid Niyombare, a Burundian military officer who led a coup attempt against Mr Nkurunziza in May. dpa