Three killed in political unrest in Burundi

Three people, including two police officers, have been killed in Burundi amid political unrest in the African country over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a continued stay in power.

Police chief General Andre Ndayambaje told AFP that two officers were killed and another was wounded in a grenade attack in Kamenge district of the capital, Bujumbura, on Friday.

Ndayambaje added that a civilian lost his life and two others were wounded in the attack.

Meanwhile, the Burundian Red Cross has announced that at least seven people have been killed and 66 others wounded in a week of clashes between police and protesters in the capital.

Police crackdown

Police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye said earlier that 577 people were arrested for causing unrest. Some 250 of those arrested face court trials and 150 of the detainees are still undergoing questioning. The rest have been set free.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, Agnes Bangiricenge, said those who are facing trial would be charged with “taking part in an uprising,” and could be sentenced to five years and more or life in prison.

Social media have been blocked in the country and radio stations have been shut down as part of the crackdown.

The UN has criticized Burundian authorities for engaging in a brutal crackdown against the opposition.

A spokesman for the UN human rights office, Rupert Colville, told reporters in Geneva, “According to one credible report, over 400 individuals are being held in extremely overcrowded conditions, with detainees having to sleep standing up.”

Two-day truce

A civil society leader has called on protesters to calm down and observe a two-day truce, while urging the president to rethink the “consequences” of his fresh bid for reelection.

“If not, we will return to the streets on Monday with much more vigor and we will not leave until he gives up his project,” warned Pacifique Nininahazwe, who heads one of Burundi’s main civil society groups.

The political unrest erupted in the African country after the ruling CNDD-FDD Party last weekend designated incumbent President Nkurunziza as its candidate for the next presidential election.

Opposition forces say Nkurunziza’s bid for a third consecutive term in office is against the country’s constitution, as well as a peace deal that ended a civil war in the country in 2006.

Nkurunziza is a former rebel leader from the majority Hutu tribe. He has been in power for two terms since 2005.

Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the 13-year civil war, which split the country along ethnic lines between the Hutu majority and minority Tutsis.

The next presidential election is due to be held on June 26.

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