Five officials in Burundi have been killed in a week.
“We have realised that people from institutions are being targeted by these unknown murderers” in the capital, Bujumbura, police spokesperson Pierre Nkurikiye said late Wednesday in a televised statement. Armed men wearing security forces uniforms are behind the attacks and police are investigating their identities, he said.
Nkurikiye said the toll included General Adolphe Nshimirimana, the country’s former head of intelligence and an adviser to President Pierre Nkurunziza, who was killed on August 2. He didn’t give details on any of the other casualties.
Burundi has been in turmoil since April when Nkurunziza announced he would seek another term, sparking street protests and clashes with security forces that left at least 77 people dead and drove another 180 000 across the border. The United Nations and US have said the elections won by Nkurunziza last month weren’t credible. – Bloomberg