Gunfire rang out in Burundi’s capital on Sunday night following the killing of a feared military general who was a close ally of President Pierre Nkurunziza.
Nkurunziza, who was re-elected last month, said in a televised address that he has ordered the police to find Lieutenant General Adolphe Nshimirimana’s killers within 10 days.
“Security forces are required to be professional and arrest those murderers,” he said.in a speech broadcast on state radio in Bujumbura.
The killing of Nshimirimana – who was the senior presidential adviser for internal security – could spark revenge killings and further fuel violence that stemmed from Nkurunziza’s controversial bid for a third term.
Nshimirimana was killed in a drive-by shooting early Sunday in the capital, Bujumbura.
Carina Tertsakian, who researches Burundi for Human Rights Watch, said Nshimirimana was “one of the key hardliners around the president” and became even more influential as Nkurunziza faced regular street protests by civilians who wanted Nkurunziza to retire after serving for two terms.
“Despite or perhaps because of his brutal reputation, Adolphe was generally seen as untouchable, with no one in a position of power daring, or even suggesting, holding him to account,” she said.
Human Rights Watch has received frequent allegations that he was behind many incidents of killing, torture, arrests of suspected opponents and other abuses over the past several years, she said.
Nshimirimana, a former army chief of staff as well as head of the intelligence services, is believed to have helped to defeat an attempted coup against Nkurunziza in May.
The assassination has sparked condemnation from the US and appeals for calm from the African Union (AU).
The incident will probably further destabilise the East African nation, African Union Commission Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini- Zuma said in a statement posted on the organization’s website.
Dlamini-Zuma called on Burundians to “exercise utmost restraint, not be provoked and to refrain from any acts of retaliation that would only further escalate and complicate the already bad situation.”
The US State Department condemned the killing and called on “all sides to renounce violence and to redouble their efforts to engage in a transparent, inclusive and comprehensive political dialogue,” according to a statement.
Meawhile, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders lashed out on Monday at the “despicable assault” against an AFP reporter in Burundi, who says he was detained and badly beaten after a top general was assassinated.
Esdras Ndikumana, a prominent Burundian journalist who works for Agence France-Presse and Radio France Internationale (RFI), said he was held for around two hours, during which he said he was subjected to severe beatings on his back, legs and the soles of his feet.
He was later released and hospitalised, with the injuries also including a suspected broken finger.
Ndikumana said he was taking pictures on Sunday at the scene of the general’s assassination in the capital Bujumbura when he was arrested by members of the National Intelligence Service (SNR) and taken to their offices.
The secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders, Christophe Deloire, said he was “shocked and angry” over the attack.
This “despicable assault” is “tantamount to torture,” added Deloire, who called on the authorities to “immediately open an enquiry to identify and punish those who carried out this barbaric act.
Agencies
