26 People Killed in Burundi Ahead of Controversial Referendum

Unidentified gunmen killed at least 26 people on Friday night in an attack on a village in Cibitoke province northwest Burundi, a government official confirmed Saturday.

Burundi’s minister in charge of security Alain Bunyoni who visited the scene of the attack said Saturday assailants killed 26 people and injured seven others.

He said the “work” was done by a terrorist group he didn’t name. Previously, the government referred “terrorists” to mean Burundians opposed to President Nkurunziza’s third term which he won in 2015.

“Tension is very high in Burundi and we suspect there will be more bloodshed in the coming days,” Vital Nshimirimana, a Burundian human rights activits told SoftPower.

The killings come ahead of a controversial referendum that aims at extending presidential term limits, to allow President Nkurunziza to remain in power for another 16 years.

Those killed include a senior policeman attached to the presidential police unit and residents in Cibitoke believe the attack was carried out by people opposed to Nkurunziza.

The policeman only identified and Mutwa was accused by members of the opposition in 2015 of torturing people protesting against Nkurunziza.

Witnesses said a group armed with guns and knives also set fire on buildings in a village in the Cibitoke province bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

“The killing was painful and many people are horrified,” a local resident in Cibitoke said. He said some people were hacked to death.

The 54-year-old president Nkurunziza has ruled the tiny central African nation since 2005. His run for a controversial third term in 2015 triggered a deep political crisis that has since seen 1,200 people killed and 400,000 flee their homes.

Under the current constitution, no Burundian president can rule more than 10 years. But Nkurunziza ran for third term in 2015, which opponents said violated the terms of the peace deal, sparking clashes that resulted in hundreds of deaths.

The U.S. State Department has condemned political violence in Burundi, saying amending the constitution could hurt its democratic institutions.