Amid mounting fears of ethnic violence, a Burundian African Union official told CNN on Wednesday that a military coup attempt is underway in Burundi. The government denied it was under threat. But a Western diplomat told CNN that gunfire could be heard in Bujumbura, the capital of the African nation.
Earlier in Burundi's capital, army troops surrounded the state radio offices.
... About 300,000 people died in Burundi's 10-year, ethnically driven civil war. And Burundi is a neighbor of Rwanda, where in 1994 an estimated 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in an ethnic genocide.
Burundi, like Rwanda, has a Hutu majority and a Tutsi minority. While the current crisis is rooted in politics, some observers have feared that the government might try to stoke ethnic animosities in a last-ditch effort to retain power.
Historically, the Tutsi held power, controlling the military, most of the civil service, the judicial system, and even higher education.
Burundi police use 'live ammunition and tear gas' against protesters as general announces coup attempt
Witnesses claim that police opened fire on a large group of protesters earlier today, using tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the increasingly angry crowds in the centre of capital city Bujumbura.
Spent cartridges littered the ground after the shootings in Bujumbura’s Kigobe district. At least three people were wounded. The shootings followed an attempt by demonstrators to storm the parliament building.
... It remains unclear who is in control of Burundi, ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world, with a South African spokesperson telling Reuters that it was "way too early too say".
Journalist Gabe Joselow, East Africa Bureau Chief for Voice of America, tweeted shortly after the general's anouncement: "Shooting in streets of Bujumbura. This thing is not over."
UN organisation UNHCR claims that as many as 50,000 people have already fled the densely populated nation, warning that as many as 300,000 more could flee as the crisis headed towards a “worst case scenario”.
Thousands of refugees pour into Rwanda from Burundi
More than 50,000 Burundians have entered Rwanda and other neighboring countries since mid-April, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). On a continent plagued by refugee crises, the exodus represents a new challenge, particularly for Rwanda, which already was a haven for 74,000 refugees, most of them from Congo.
Rwanda Sees Increasing Risk of Burundi Violence From Rebels
Rwandan rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo are slipping across the border into Burundi, raising concerns that violence will escalate in the run-up to national elections, Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said.
“We have information that some FDLR elements have crossed into Burundi from the Congo and might even get involved directly in the continued unrest in the country,” Mushikiwabo said, referring to the Hutu-dominated Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known by the French acronym FDLR.
The FDLR has been active in Congo since fleeing from Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, in which as many as 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered over 100 days. Burundi has an ethnic Hutu majority and Tutsi minority, similar to Rwanda.
Man burned alive in Burundi protest against presidential bid
Protesters burned a man alive on the streets of Burundi’s capital on Thursday, saying he was a member of the ruling party’s youth wing that had attacked them during demonstrations against the president’s third-term bid, a witness said.
Protesters have been on Bujumbura’s streets for almost two weeks, often hurling stones at police who they say have fired live rounds, which police deny.
“They put tires around his neck and then burned him,” a witness told Reuters after seeing the man killed in the Nyakabiga district of Bujumbura, one of protest flashpoints.
Clashes in Burundi as African leaders meet in Tanzania
Burundian Genocide
Since Burundi's independence in 1962, there have been two events called genocides in the country. The 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army, and the 1994 mass killings of Tutsis by the majority-Hutu populace are both described as genocide in the final report of the International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi presented to the United Nations Security Council in 2002.
Police vanish from Burundi capital; coup attempt celebrated
Burundi's president takes to Facebook to declare coup 'fanciful'
After a top general announced on the radio that President Pierre Nkurunziza had been overthrown, the presidency tweeted that the situation was under control and there was no coup. It then tweeted again, tagging several journalists stating that the attempted coup had failed.
