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Gunmen kill 2 in attack on Burundi ruling party office

Xinhua, May 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

Unidentified gunmen Tuesday killed a police officer and a watchman at the office of the Burundian ruling party at Ndava in Mwaro province, 70 km east of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, administration sources said Wednesday.

"About 10 criminals with two of them armed with guns first attacked a depot of drinks around 19:00 (17:00 GMT) at Ndava," said Aloys Ndenzako, administrator of Ndava district.

They opened fire, killing a police officer on the spot and injuring two persons, and also stole an unknown amount of money at the depot before committing another crime not far from the depot, said the official.

According to him, those gunmen rode their motorbikes to a nearby office of the Burundian ruling party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), and tried to burn it with gasoline, but failed to burn the entire office.

"They however shot dead a watchman at the (ruling) party office. During their escape, they also injured a nurse at Ndava health center," said Ndenzako.

Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen Wednesday morning shot dead a senior Burundian retired army officer, Colonel Lucien Rufyiri, in front of his house in Ngagara in the north of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, a local administration authority said.

The assassination happened about 11:00 (09:00 GMT) shortly after the victim left the office of Ngagara zone where he had gone to seek identification documents.

Violence returns to the east African nation after a session of consultations of four days to settle the country's year-long crisis ended Tuesday in Arusha, Tanzania.

Burundi is facing a political turmoil that broke out since April 2015 following the announcement by Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza that he would be seeking a third term.

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.

Over 451 persons are reported to have been killed since then while some 270,000 citizens sought exile in neighboring countries. Endit