Four Killed İn Separate Burundi Attacks: Local Sources

At least four people, including a local leader of Burundi's ruling party, were killed in two separate attacks on Monday by unidentified gunmen near capital Bujumbura, according to local sources.



Ernest Misigaro, a local leader of the ruling Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), was killed early Monday in the Kanyosha district on Bujumbura's outskirts, Anicet Nigaba, a local security official, said.



According to Nigaba, Misigaro was attacked by unidentified gunmen while on his way to work.



CNDD-FDD member Gideon Mpitabavum confirmed the incident, saying Misigaro had been killed "for political reasons".



On the same day, a leader of the ruling party's youth league was shot dead in the rural town of Kabezi near Bujumbura, town official Leonce Ndinzirindi said.



In yet another violent incident on Monday night, two other people were killed by unidentified assailants in the Musaga district south of the capital, district chief Gérard Ntungwanayo told Anadolu Agency.



Burundi has faced a political crisis since April, when the CNDD-FDD named Nkurunziza – in power since 2005 – its candidate for July presidential polls.



Despite a boycott by the opposition, which says Nkurunziza lacked the constitutional right to sit for a third term in office, Nkurunziza easily won the July election – the results of which were rejected by opposition parties.



In May, one month before Nkurunziza announced his third-term candidacy, several top generals attempted to lead a coup against him while he was abroad to attend a regional summit. 



Although the coup attempt ultimately failed, the generals involved fled to neighboring Rwanda, from which they have vowed to continue opposing Nkurunziza.



In the one month since Burundi's controversial presidential poll, the country has witnessed a spate of violent attacks – on both government officials and opposition figures – sparking fears of a wider political conflict.  



Only one week after Nkurunziza's July electoral victory, Gen. Adolphe Nshimirimana – the country's powerful spy chief and a Nkurunziza ally – was killed in Bujumbura.



And in mid-August, Col. Jean Bikomagu, Burundi's former army chief-of-staff, was killed in his home by unidentified attackers.



According to local NGOs, at least 130 people, mostly opposition politicians, have been killed since the political turbulence began in April. - Burundi