NAIROBI: Gunmen executed nine people in Burundi’s capital hours before police launched house-to-house searches for weapons on Sunday, amid international fears of fresh bloodletting in the central African nation.
According to the reports, hundreds of police and soldiers ringed the opposition flashpoint Mutakura district of the capital Bujumbura early Sunday to start a widely feared crackdown on “enemies of the nation.”
Residents said security forces were carrying out house-to-house searches. “The police started the search operation for hidden weapons in Mutakura,” city mayor Freddy Mbonimpa said, adding the raids were being “done professionally, because the police are using weapon detectors.”
The mayor said seven people were killed in an “execution” attack on a bar on Saturday night, adding that a probe had been launched to track the “assassins.” Two others later died of their wounds.
Nine killed in Burundi attack as police launch crackdown
