Burundi president gives gunmen deadline to end attacks
Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza gave gunmen a five-day deadline Monday to lay down arms after a string of battles with security forces, with eight fighters killed in the latest attacks.
The central African nation has seen months of violence triggered by Nkurunziza’s finally successful bid to win a third term in office, with the government calling the gangs of gunmen “criminals”, but the United Nations warning of the risk of a return to civil war.
Nkurunziza said the November 7 deadline was a “last call”, as he warned those “who commit crimes to abandon this path,” in a speech broadcast on state radio.
Those gunmen who chose to surrender under the amnesty will be given two weeks of “civic training” and then be freed with no further punishment.
In the latest violence, eight gunmen were killed and 18 others were captured after clashes with police outside the capital Bujumbura, police said Monday.
The latest clashes took place in the rural Nyabiraba district, some 13 kilometres (eight miles) east of Bujumbura, police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye said.
Nyabiraba is a stronghold of the National Liberation Forces (FNL), one of the main ethnic Hutu rebel groups during Burundi’s 13-year civil war, which ended in 2006.
The FNL oppose Nkurunziza’s CNDD-FDD ruling party, another Hutu ex-rebel group.
The UN has warned that Burundi risks sliding back into civil war after a dramatic rise in killings, arrests and detentions, with over 200,000 refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries.
Some 200 people have been killed in Burundi since violence broke out in April, the UN says.
Opponents said Nkurunziza’s re-election breached the terms of the peace deal that paved the way to ending civil war.
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
1 Comments
“Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” written by CHRIS DE BURGH
“Where have all the flowers gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the flowers gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the flowers gone,
Picked by young girls every one,
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the young girls gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the young girls gone,
Gone to young men every one,
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young men gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the young men gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the young men gone,
Gone to soldiers every one,
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the soldiers gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the soldiers gone,
They’ve gone to graveyards every one,
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the graveyards gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the graveyards gone,
Gone to flowers every one,
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?”
We will review and take appropriate action.