Four die overnight as Burundi killings persist

WITNESSES said four people were killed in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, as a wave of killings associated with President Pierre Nkurunziza’s re-election for a third term took more lives.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights estimates that at least 198 people have been killed in Burundi since April 26, when Nkurunziza announced his bid for a third term in office that was opposed locally and internationally, according to Reuters.

Police spokesman, Pierre Nkurukiye, said the four dead may have been shot by police when they were attacked while patrolling the Mutakura neighborhood.

The four deaths raises to 13 people killed since Saturday. Nkurunziza’s successful bid for a third term sparked violent street protests and a failed coup.