Insecurity expected to rise, army warns

Insecurity in Burundi is expected to rise as 28 August date for signing the peace accord approaches, army officials said. “We expect insecurity to rise due to the pressure being exerted on everyone to sign the agreement,” Burundi army spokesman Colonel Longin Minani told IRIN. “We need at least three to four months to sign the agreement. It is not realistic to sign the agreement to please foreigners when our people continue to die.”

On Wednesday morning, 60 people were hurt in a grenade explosion at a market in the suburbs of Bujumbura. Eyewitnesses told the Agence burundaise de presse (ABP) that a booby trap had been set up under a stall the previous day. Meanwhile, the Burundi army denied killing 35 civilians in Bujumbura Rural province on Saturday, but admitted carrying out military operations in the are. “We are trying to flush out rebels in their mountain hideouts and set up positions to avoid infiltrations,” Colonel Minani said.