At least five killed in a market attack in Burundi

At least five people in Burundi were killed in a gun attack suspected to have been carried out by rebels opposed to President Pierre Nkurunziza, a government official said on Tuesday as unrest continued in the central African nation.

The attack by unidentified insurgents took place in Burundi’s eastern Ruyigi region, close to the border with Tanzania.

According to local media, the attackers are believed to be linked to a group of exiles in Tanzania led by Leonidas Hatungimana, a former presidential spokesman who was sacked last year after he advised Nkurunziza not to seek a third term.

Abdallah Hassan, Governor of Ruyigi Province, located next to the Tanzanian border, said that the attackers entered the market in Munyinya on Monday evening and opened fire.

The governor said that the attackers were believed to include Burundian refugees who had come in from a camp in Tanzania, and that five suspects had been arrested.

Hundreds have been killed and over 250 000 people have fled Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial decision last April to run for a third term.