More than 26 villagers in Burundi’s north-west have been murdered by armed men who stormed homes with knives and setting them on fire.
The deadly attack in the Cibitoke province is coming ahead of a controversial referendum on May 17 considered an attempt by president Nkurunziza to extend his stay in power.
Burundi’s security Minister Alain Guillaume Bunyoni has described the attack as an act of “terrorists”.
He said these attackers “coming from and returning to Congo shot and burned: 26 dead and seven wounded”.
AFP reported that some witnesses confirmed that the attack took place on Friday night with a local official saying “These criminals went house to house and committed real carnage.”
“Some of the victims were stabbed, others were shot, there is even a whole family that was burned alive in their home,” the witness told AFP.
The attacks are considered an act targeted at disrupting next week’s referendum to extend the president’s stay in power until 2034 with the potential amendment of the constitution to extend presidential terms to seven years from five.
President Pierre Nkurunziza has been in power 2005 but his desire to extend his rule in 2015 sparked series of violence.
Source: Africafeeds.com
