An eyewitness said he counted 21 bodies with bullet wounds in their heads in the Nyakabiga area after Friday’s violence. He also said the aim of the “armed gang” was to free prisoners.
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Taxi driver Emery Sahabo said, facing roadblocks and gunfire early Friday, he and other motorists abandoned their cars and ran home.
A source in the presidency said a declaration of a state of emergency was under consideration. US Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, Thomas Perriello, said he was “alarmed” by the violence and called for an “immediate ceasefire and calm”.
Activities are at a standstill in Bujumbura city center on Friday.
Mr Nkurunziza’s push for a third term has triggered months of violence, including a coup attempt.
Foreign diplomats have warned in recent weeks that the country is teetering on the edge of another civil war. Nkurunziza’s opponents say his July re-election violates a two-term limit set out in the accords that ended a civil war in the country 10 years ago. “What is the global community waiting for?”
The young men who protested his election bid haven’t backed down.
Others were discovered in the southern neighbourhood of Musaga.
It was not immediately clear who had killed them.
Bodies regularly appear on the street in the mornings.
Burundi police said they had shot dead five “insurgents” who hurled grenades at a patrol on Wednesday, with witnesses saying the suspects were lined up and executed. We do not know what going on in the streets. As sporadic gunfire continued around Bujumbura, a government spokesman claimed on Twitter that the attacks had been foiled. Residents accuse police of taking revenge.
Heavy firing and the sounds of artillery could be heard for many hours afterwards, said witnesses at several different locations.
Burundian officials have formerly accused of supporting an insurgency against President Pierre Nkurunziza neighboring Rwanda.
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BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) – Violence from coordinated attacks on three Burundian army installations killed 87 people, an army spokesman said Saturday, showing the escalating turmoil over the disputed third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza.
