By REUTERS
In Summary
- There were no signs of the crowds that have gathered early each morning for the last three weeks to demonstrate against President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term in elections scheduled for next month.
The capital of Burundi was quiet but tense on Thursday after
a night of heavy gunfire, particularly in the restive neighbourhood of
Musaga, where residents spoke of running battles between stone-throwing
youths and police.
Reuters reporters entering Musaga saw dozens of police
armed with automatic rifles and tear gas launchers, as well as a handful
of soldiers.
There were no signs of the crowds that have gathered early each
morning for the last three weeks in the capital Bujumbura to demonstrate
against President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term in
elections scheduled for next month.
"There was shooting through the night. Tension was very high,"
28-year-old Musaga resident Bosco, who did not want to give his last
name, told Reuters.
It was unclear if there had been any casualties.
More than 20 people have died in nearly a month of unrest,
including a failed military coup, but the major fear is the power
struggle re-opening old wounds in a county with a long history of
genocide and civil war between its Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups.
In a state television address late on Wednesday, Nkurunziza
stressed the need for national unity, saying that Burundi's bloody past -
including a civil war that ended in 2005 after the deaths of 300,000
people - could not be ignored.
"No Burundian wants to revive the tensions of ethnic division or
any other nature," Nkurunziza, who has mixed Hutu-Tutsi parentage,
said. "The blood that was spilt in the past has taught us a lesson."
He argues that his bid to extend his time in office does not
break a two-term limit in the constitution, as his first term, in which
he was appointed by parliament rather than directly elected, does not
count.
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