Deadly attacks in Burundi leave 21 people dead

Bujumbura: Some 21 people were found shot dead in a neighborhood of Burundi’s capital Saturday, a day after the government said an unidentified group carried out coordinated attacks on three military installations elsewhere. An eyewitness told The Associated Press he counted 21 bodies with bullet wounds in their heads in the Nyakabiga neighborhood after Friday’s violence. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns, said some of the dead had their hands tied to their backs. [caption id=“attachment_2543270” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of a Burundian soldier with his gun and rocket launcher. AP[/caption] It wasn’t immediately clear who had killed them. Nyakabiga was not among the neighborhoods where the military said attacks on its installations took place. Army spokesman Col. Gaspard Baratuza told state radio Friday three soldiers were killed in the pre-dawn raid by an unidentified group in Ngagara, Musaga and Mujejuru. He said the army later killed 12 of the attackers and 20 others were arrested, including one who was wounded and is being treated at a military hospital. The violence is apparently linked to President Pierre Nkurunziza’s third term in office, which many Burundians and foreign observers had opposed as unconstitutional and in violation of peace accords. The treaty ended a civil war in which 300,000 people were killed between 1993 and 2006. At least 240 people have been killed since April and about 215,000 others have fled to neighboring countries, according to the United Nations. Several hundred people have also been imprisoned for opposing Nkurunziza’s re-election this year. AP