Grenade blast injures 26 in Burundian capital

At least 26 people were injured Thursday when unidentified attackers threw a grenade at crowds near the city center here, Burundian police told Xinhua.

Nine of the injured were in serious condition, said police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye, adding that two people aboard a motorcycle blasted the grenade, which had been "hidden in a plastic bag," and then ran away.

The device exploded near a police post in Buyenzi area, but witnesses told Xinhua that it seemed that the post was not the target.

Meanwhile, Nkurikiye said two guns of the Kalashnikov type, five chargers filled with ammunitions and two bombs with their accessories were seized Thursday morning in a search at Mutakura in the north of the capital.

Since April 2015, with the outbreak of protest against the third-term bid of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza and his controversial re-election in July 2015, violence has left over 400 dead in the east African nation, according to civil society groups. Endi