3 killed, 20 injured in Burundi grenade blasts as UN chief visits : police

Three people including one suspected criminal were killed and 20 others injured, ten of them seriously while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had a two-day visit in Burundi, police said Tuesday in a statement.

"In total, 12 grenades were blasted in various places in the Burundian capital Bujumbura between Monday and Tuesday. The culprits wanted to show the guest that the country is unsafe. During the grenade blasts, two innocent people were killed and a criminal was shot dead before he could blast a grenade," said Burundian Police Spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye.

According to him, the suspected criminal was shot dead by security forces when he was attempting to explode a grenade at Kajiji in Kanyosha in the south of the capital Bujumbura.

Nkurikiye added that in addition to the killed suspected criminal, 17 other culprits were arrested while three unexploded grenades were seized.

Nkurikiye indicated that at Musaga alone - in the south of the capital Bujumbura, six grenades were exploded on Monday night, injuring one soldier.

He added that other grenades were exploded in Ngagara, Kamenge and in Cibitoke in the north of the capital.

Ban left Bujumbura on Tuesday morning.

He was concluding a two-day visit aimed at helping finding a lasting solution to Burundi's crisis that broke out in April 2015 following the third term bid of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza.

His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted into a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup on May 13, 2015, forcing about 240, 000 people into exile and over 400 people killed since then. Endit