Four people have been killed after a grenade attack on a bar in the country’s capital of Bujumbura. One of the casualties was a young boy who was reportedly hawking eggs.
In a separate attack yesterday, unknown attackers hurled grenades at police officers. The motive and the attackers in yesterday’s attacks remain unknown. Unrest and tension has escalated in Burundi after President Pierre Nkurunziza forced his way to an unconstitutional third term last year.
Despite winning the election unopposed, opposition to his rule has increasingly manifested in the form of violence which has claimed more than 400 lives since July 2015. It remains unclear which of the opposition parties is responsible for the violence targeted at government and its agencies.
Despite the unrest, Burundi has blocked attempts by the African Union to deploy peacekeeping forces to the country, saying it would treat such deployment as an “act of aggression”.