At least twelve people, including a senior army officer, were killed and several wounded Monday night in an ambush on vehicles in central Burundi, according to administrative sources.
The police had mentioned on Sunday evening on Twitter a death toll of eight during an “armed robbery on four vehicles” in Muramvya, a town located about fifty kilometers northeast of the economic capital Bujumbura.
Speaking on condition of anonymity the administrative source said ten people were killed on the spot and two others, including a little girl, succumbed to their injuries.
a medical source also said there are eleven bodies in the Muramvya morgue and a twelfth body, a woman who died while being transferred to a hospital in Bujumbura, is in a morgue there.
According to the administrative source and relatives, Burundian army officer, Colonel Onesphore Nizigiyimana, and one of his daughters are among the victims. He was returning from a family celebration with his wife and three daughters when the attack took place.
The ambush was reportedly carried out four kilometers from the center of Muramvya by a dozen heavily armed men who shot at the colonel’s car when it arrived there, then set it on fire.
Meanwhile, three other vehicles, including a bus, arrived at the scene and were also attacked with guns and grenades.
Such ambushes are increasingly common in Burundi. At least a dozen people were killed in several such attacks in late 2020.
In mid-April, seven people were also killed in the town of Rusaka, in the neighboring province of Mwaro, in an attack on a bar attributed by the police to armed bandits.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.