THE sound of gunfire after dark has become common in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, but the night of Friday 12th December was particularly bloody. By the next morning, as many as 87 people were dead. According to the army, gunmen launched co-ordinated attacks on three military bases and the assailants were killed in a counterattack. Yet many of the dead seemed to have been killed not in firefights but at point blank range in the street. The government is apparently resorting to brute violence to suppress its opponents, who in turn are turning to arms. At what point do protests become a civil war?
Burundi’s latest bout of instability began in April, when Pierre Nkurunziza, who has been president since 2005, announced his intention to run for a third term. He argues that, because he was appointed by Burundi’s parliament in his first term, rather than elected by a popular vote, he has not reached the constitutional two-term limit agreed then. Few agree with him on that interpretation of the constitution, but he is staying in office nonetheless. In May, when Mr Nkurunziza was at a conference in neighbouring Tanzania, a small group of army...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/1P4Dxwy
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