90 dead after clashes in Burundi’s capital

At least 40 corpses were discovered in Nyakabiga and Ngagara neighborhoods in the Burundian capital Bujumbura, sources told Xinhua on Saturday.

In the Nyakabiga neighbourhood, residents said they woke up to the shocking scene of dead bodies sprawled out on the streets.

Security forces in Burundi have been accused of extrajudicial killings after a series of coordinated attacks on military bases around the capital Bujumbura.

Army spokesman Col. Gaspard Baratuza said Saturday eight security officers were among those killed and 21 others wounded in the fighting. Most residents hid in their homes, leaving the streets to patrolling security personnel.

Government supporters are said to be celebrating what they called “the victory of our valiant army over the enemy” by holding marches in the capital today.

But police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye said there were “no collateral victims” during Friday’s roundup.

“Sweep operations have finished now”, Baratuza said on Saturday, adding that officials confiscated attackers’ weapons and ammunition.

This week’s violence is the worst since a failed coup attempt in May, sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term which he won in July’s elections.

Residents said some of Friday’s dead were killed after being rounded up by the police in house-to-house searches, an allegation the police denied.

The UN chief urged all sides, including the government, “to refrain from any further escalation of violence or retaliation”, his spokesman said, warning that anyone “responsible for ordering or committing human rights violations will be held individually accountable”.

US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said that the Council was ready “to consider additional measures” against powerbrokers in the central African country who continue to block a political solution to the crisis.

A climate of fear has engulfed Bujumbura after the sounds of battle could be heard throughout Friday and overnight.

Hundreds of people have been killed in protests, armed attacks and assassinations since the unrest began in April and more than 200,000 have left the country, according to United Nations figures.

More than 220,000 people have fled the violence to neighboring Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Congo.

The Council said that sending UN peacekeepers to the violence-gripped nation remained an option, and stressed the need for urgent political dialogue.