“The final toll of the attacks yesterday is 79 enemies killed, 45 captured and 97 weapons seized, and on our side eight soldiers and policemen were killed and 21 wounded”, Baratuza was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. “Some of them had their arms tied together, others not”, an Al Jazeera reporter said.
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The fighting was the worst outbreak of violence since a failed coup in May, after President Pierre Nkurunziza launched his bid for a third term.
BUJUMBURA Burundi (Xinhua) – At least 40 corpses were discovered in Nyakabiga and Ngagara neighborhoods in the Burundi capital Bujumbura, sources told Xinhua on Saturday.
But some residents said they suspected the authorities of trying to hide evidence of a massacre perpetrated by the security forces, a view echoed by a European diplomat.
BBC Africa analyst Richard Hamilton says bodies on the streets are nearly a daily occurrence in Bujumbura but this was by far the largest number of deaths in one night.
Friday’s violence occurred a day after the government said an unidentified group carried out a three co-ordinated attacks on military targets, according to The Guardian.
The strikes on military bases on Friday were the boldest attacks since the failed coup attempt, and some analysts in Burundi said that the bodies found on Saturday morning appeared to represent a retaliatory message. James Ntunzwenimana was shot dead while going to buy sugar, said the witness who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety.
“They were shot down by security forces”, said Karerwa Ndenzako, a government spokesman.
Residents in the capital earlier said the bodies of some 34 men were found on the streets – and accused police of taking revenge.
An eyewitness told the Associated Press he counted 21 bodies with bullet wounds in their heads in the Nyakabiga neighbourhood on Saturday morning.
Dead bodies are transported away in the back of a pickup truck as… “If I had money, I would go buy a passport and flee”, said Fidele Muyobera, 22, who works as household help. He declined to take questions from journalists.
Several hundred people have also been imprisoned for opposing Nkurunziza’s re-election in July this year.
There have been continued protests in the country since President Pierre Nkurunziza announced his decision to seek a third term in office, reported the BBC.
The United States said it is “deeply alarmed” by the violence in Bujumbura, said a statement released by John Kirby, a State Department spokesman.
Western governments have urged Burundi’s government and the political opposition to stop fighting and negotiate.
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The U.N. Security Council late Friday strongly condemned the violence, and U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said the council should look at “how the global community can protect civilians from mass violence, including for the possible deployment of a regionally led peace support operation”.
