“It seems to be that the police were conducting a raid in the neighborhood, and they broke down the door of this journalist and killed him, his wife and two children in a completely arbitrary way”, said Kahn-Sriber.
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Pierre Nkurunziza announced he was a candidate to serve a third term.
Burundian police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye said police launched a rescue operation after gunmen abducted three police officers on patrol in the Ngagara neighborhood of northern Bujumbura.
The police entered their compound looking for the kidnappers and were shooting anyone who was in range, according to witnesses.
It is not clear who kidnapped the police officers in the latest incident. Local people said a television cameraman working for the state-run RTNB television and his family were among the dead. There are conflicting reports about how Nkezabahizi, his wife and two teenage children were killed. “Some members have been killed during shooting between the criminals and national police members”.
Nkurikiye said an investigation had begun into the cameraman’s death.
Activists and authorities have reported a number of apparently targeted killings in the central African country, which was thrown into crisis in April when Nkurunziza’s plan to remain in office triggered weeks of protests and a failed coup. The UN warned last month that Burundi risked sliding back into civil war after a dramatic rise in killings, arrests and detentions, with nearly 200,000 refugees fleeing to neighbouring nations.
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Nkurunziza’s administration has accused Rwanda of training and arming rebels to disrupt Burundi’s peace.
