Protests are set to continue in Burundi as increasing
numbers of protesters take to the streets against President Pierre Nkurunziza's
decision to seek a third term in office.
Three people were reportedly killed and 45 wounded in
clashes between protesters and police in the country's capital, Bujumbura, on
Monday, bringing the death toll over the past week to 11, including
soldiers and police.
As clashes continue, people have been fleeing the country
into neighbouring Rwanda, out of fears of all-out fighting.
As many as 21,000 people were reported to have fled to
Rwanda in April, according to UN refugee agency UNHCR (http://tinyurl.com/nk6zoa9)
Burundi, a small landlocked country in East Central Africa,
came out of a 13-year civil war based on ethnic lines only nine years ago. An
estimated 300,000 people were killed in fighting between Hutus and Tutsis.
There have been recent claims and counter-claims about the
distribution of threatening letters that have been circulated to people's
homes. The letters - illustrated with coffins and graves - say
Tutsi men, women, boys and girls will be killed if President Nkurunziza does
not run for a third term.
Protesters say Nkurunziza's decision violates the Arusha
agreements that ended the civil war.
Some people blame the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of
the ruling CNDD-FDD party for distributing the letters. The Imbonerakure
deny that they are behind the letters.
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