At Least Two Dead In Burundi Grenade Attacks

Nairobi, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th May, 2021 ) :At least two people have been killed and several injured in a series of near-simultaneous attacks in Burundi that targeted popular venues in the economic capital, government sources said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Interior described the attacks in Bujumbura at around 7:00 pm (1700 GMT) Tuesday as "terrorism by throwing grenades" and said an investigation had been launched.

It confirmed on Twitter that two people had died, adding that one of the attackers was also injured in the blast and has been detained.

"The wounded were taken to health care facilities," the ministry said.

But security sources and witnesses at the scene pointed to the possibility of a higher death toll.

The attacks took place at bus stops downtown, security officials told AFP.

A witness near one of the attacks told AFP that two grenades exploded there.

"It was terrifying.

Bloody bodies were lying all around, people were screaming and running in all directions. Others were dazed," the witness said.

The army and police deployed hundreds of heavily armed troops in the streets of Bujumbura and arrested dozens of people, witnesses said.

A senior security official told AFP the attacks were linked to the 51st meeting of the UN standing advisory committee on security issues in Central Africa, which opened Tuesday in Bujumbura and is due to end Friday.

"It is clearly an operation by armed groups who wanted to show that peace and security do not prevail on the day the meeting opens," the official said on condition of anonymity.

These unclaimed attacks come after several ambushes attributed to "armed bandits" in Burundi.

At least 12 people, including a senior army officer, were killed in early May in an ambush by an unidentified armed group in Muramvya, in central Burundi.