Gatumba (Burundi), Sep 19: Raiders killed at least 36 people when they stormed a Burundi bar and opened fire on patrons in one of the country's worst attacks in months, an official said today.
The governor of Bujumbura Rural province where the attack occurred yesterday night, Jacques Minani, told AFP at least 36 people had been killed.
An AFP reporter counted 23 bodies piled up in the courtyard of the bar. According to Minani, the remaining 13 died in hospitals in Bujumbura.
The attackers raided a bar in Gatumba area, some 13 kilometres west of the capital Bujumbura in a stronghold of the former National Liberation Forces (FNL) rebels whose leader Agathon Rwasa has been blamed for a recent spate of attacks.
Witnesses said the attack lasted about 20 minutes. “Those who attacked us are not just bandits. They are fighters, rebels. I swear because I saw them,” said one wounded victim who did not want to be identified.
“Dozens of people, some in (military) uniform and with Kalashnikov (rifles) and grenades entered ‘Chez les Amis' bar. They told everyone to lie down and began shooting,” said a survivor who lost two siblings and a friend.
The bar premises were littered with broken chairs and bottles Monday, with pools of blood in the yard. Police cordoned off the bar, but were faced by an angry crowd of several thousand people shouting that they wanted to bury the bodies left out in the hot sun.
Officials said they were waiting for Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza to arrive before the bodies could be buried.
Several diplomats accredited to Burundi were present at the bar today. AFP
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