Burundi grenade attack in Bujumbura, what to know
On the evening of Monday, grenade attacks at the parking lot of buses serving the north of the city of Bujumbura caused the death of at least three people and a dozen injured, local media report.
According to witnesses, it was around 7 p.m. that these attacks took place simultaneously in the parking lot of the old market in Bujumbura.
The same sources report that there were “two large detonations caused by the explosion of two grenades in the heart of the economic capital of Burundi. These detonations caused widespread panic in this Bujumbura parking lot,” she said, adding that they caused the death of one person and left at least 5 injured.
A few minutes later, another explosion took place at the Bwiza market, on the western side of the country.
According to a witness quoted by Sos Médias Burundi, the grenade “was thrown in front of the main entrance to the market where there are sellers of small fish (Ndagala)”.
The source note that the witness contacted affirmed to have counted five seriously wounded, all transferred to the health district of Jabe. For its part, Iwacu, another local media, indicates that there were 2 dead and several injured.
After these attacks, the Principal Advisor to the President of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, called them “terrorist” acts. On his Twitter account, Willy Nyamitwe affirmed that “the Burundians present a united front in the face of terrorist cowardice”.
“The Burundians present a united front in the face of terrorist cowardice, no offense to the crooked politicians who, pretending to be journalists (i do not name them),” the tweet sounds.
Since Evariste Ndayishimiye came to power, Bujumbura, the economic capital of Burundi, has faced grenade attacks.
Last May, a similar attack left at least 5 dead and dozens injured, according to the report drawn up by the local authorities. Monday’s attacks come as the head of state, Evariste Ndayishimiye, is in New York to take part in the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.
