Armed gunmen left more than 36 people dead after a shooting in a Burundi bar near the capital of Bujumbura on Sunday. This is the deadliest attack in the poor, landlocked central African country in years.
The gunmen yelled, “Kill them all, Make sure there’s no survivors,” an eyewitness told the BBC.
A doctor told the BBC that the local hospital did not have enough supplies and medical equipment to deal with the people injured in the attack. “We are lacking blood, equipment, and medicine to treat all the injured,” he told the broadcaster.
After decades of genocide and 13 years of civil war, Burundi has experienced relative peace since 2009 when hard-line Hutu rebels laid down their arms and joined the current government.
However, sporadic attacks have occurred in the country since then.
The identity of Sunday’s shooters is still unknown with some eyewitnesses saying the attackers were rebel fighters.
“Those who attacked us are not just bandits. They are fighters, rebels. I swear because I saw them,” one eyewitness, who wished not to be named, told AFP. A survivor said the men had military uniforms on and were armed “with Kalashnikov [AK-47 rifles] and grenades.”
Another witness said the attack lasted around 20 minutes.
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