Small groups of protestors, police clash in Burundi capital

Police in the central African nation of Burundi on Sunday clashed with small groups of protestors, witnesses said, the day after the president was declared as candidate for a controversial third term.

An AFP correspondent said there were small demonstrations in several parts of the capital despite a government ban, with at least one outbreak of stone-throwing and anti-riot police beating back around 100 protestors trying to reach the city centre.

In the Cibitoke area, an AFP reporters said protestors pelted police with stones after they arrested a demonstrator.

“We threw stones to try and free our friend. This is a peaceful protest, we were only singing and they charged,” said one of the protestors, who did not give his name.

At least two police were wounded and two youths arrested, and police fired live rounds in the air in a bid to disperse the crowd.

Witnesses reported similar small-scale clashes in two other districts of the capital.

The protests come the day after President Pierre Nkurunziza was declared the ruling party’s candidate for a third term in office.

Opposition figures and rights groups say the move is unconstitutional and say the president’s effort to cling to power could push Burundi — which emerged from civil war in 2006 — back into violence.