’21 bodies found in Burundi’

“They were shot down by security forces”, said Karerwa Ndenzako, a government spokesman.

“It is an absolute horror, those who committed this are war criminals”, the witness said.

The largest number of bodies found on Saturday were in Bujumbura’s Nyakabiga district, a focus of anti-government protests.

“Four of the 25 corpses were identified, but the others have not yet been identified”, said local administration sources in Nyakabiga zone.

At least 28 bodies have been found in Burundi’s worst night of political violence since an attempted coup in April, with residents describing victims shot execution-style, some with hands bound behind their backs.

In coordinated attacks, gunmen stormed three military installations in Burundi before dawn Friday. “I have counted 14 dead bodies with my own eyes”, he said, blaming “soldiers and police” for the killings.

Eyewitnesses told the AFP that Burundian soldiers were seen dragging random young men from their homes, in supposed opposition strongholds throughout Bujumbura, and then executing the men on the spot.

Nyakabiga was not among the areas where the military said attacks on its installations took place.

A climate of fear has engulfed the capital, Bujumbura, after the sounds of battle could be heard throughout the day Friday and overnight. BBC reporter Prime Ndikumagenga from the city of Burundi reported that the attacks on military barracks are the first, since the coup incident. “Some of them had their arms tied together, others not”, an Al Jazeera reporter said. Road blocks were set up in part of the city, residents said.

The Security Council said that sending UN peacekeepers to the nation remained an option, and stressed the need for urgent political dialogue. Later, the UN human rights office announced that the UN Human Rights Council would hold a special session on the Burundi crisis next Thursday.

It is still unclear whether all the bodies in the streets belonged to the attackers.

Heavily armed attackers have launched co-ordinated assaults on several army barracks in Burundi.

According to the United Nations, at least 240 people have been killed since April and more than 200,000 have fled to neighbouring countries.