- 2 hours ago
- From the section Africa
Image copyright Reuters
Four people have been killed in Burundi in a grenade attack on a bar in the capital Bujumbura, officials say.
Among the victims was a child selling boiled eggs. Ten other people were injured in Saturday's attack.Unknown attackers also threw grenades at an army patrol and at police in Bujumbura, hurting several people.
Since April, more than 400 people have died in clashes triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term. He won a disputed poll in July.
The African Union is trying to persuade the president to agree to the deployment of AU peacekeepers.
He is opposed to the plan, saying this would amount to an invasion.
The government and opposition groups have accused each other of carrying out the attacks.
Last month, human rights group Amnesty International published satellite images it said were believed to be five mass graves near Burundi's capital, where security forces were accused of killing scores of people in December.
A fact-finding mission by the AU has reported arbitrary killings, torture and the "closure of some civil society organisations and the media".
Burundi on the brink
Tit-for-tat killings spread fear
Burundi's football-playing president
Presidents who cling to power
Burundi: Key facts
The country is facing its worst turmoil since the 12-year civil war ended in 2005
- 10.4m population
- 50 years - life expectancy for a man
- 2nd poorest country in the world
- 85% are Hutu, 14% Tutsi
- 300,000 died in civil war
Burundi's deepening crisis
- April 2015: Protests erupt after President Pierre Nkurunziza announces he will seek a third term in office.
- May 2015: Constitutional court rules in favour of Mr Nkurunziza, amid reports of judges being intimidated. Tens of thousands flee violence amid protests.
- May 2015: Army officers launch a coup attempt, which fails.
- July 2015: Elections are held, with Mr Nkurunziza re-elected. The polls are disputed, with opposition leader Agathon Rwasa describing them as "a joke"
- November 2015: Burundi government gives those opposing President Nkurunziza's third term five days to surrender their weapons ahead of a promised crackdown.
- November 2015: UN warns it is less equipped to deal with violence in Burundi than it was for the Rwandan genocide.
- December 2015: 87 people killed on one day as soldiers respond to an attack on military sites in Bujumbura.
- January 2016: Amnesty International publishes satellite images it says are believed to be mass graves close to where December's killings took place
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