UN employee killed in Burundi violence

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

People hold placards as they demonstrate during the funeral of a Burundian journalist and his family and a member of the International Organization for Migration in Bujumbura on October 20, 2015, after they were shot dead. A UN employee was among those killed in Burundi at the weekend. AFP PHOTO | LANDRY NSHIMIYE

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A UN employee was among those killed in Burundi at the weekend in an armed attack on a bar by gunmen dressed in police uniforms, the UN spokesman said Monday.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the killings on Saturday in the capital Bujumbura, which local officials said left nine dead, and called for a full investigation.

"Preliminary reports suggest that the attack was conducted by persons in police uniform," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The UN staff member, who was a Burundian national, was working for the UN Development Program.

Ban also called on Burundi's security forces to exercise maximum restraint during a "forcible disarmament campaign" that left several dead including a police officer, the spokesman said.

Burundi has suffered a dramatic rise in killings, arrests and detentions since President Pierre Nkurunziza launched a controversial bid to stand for a third term in April.

The United Nations has repeatedly called for dialogue between the government and the opposition to end the crisis.

Bujumbura mayor Freddy Mbonimpa said seven people were killed in an "execution" attack on the bar Saturday night and that a probe had been launched to find the "assassins." The mayor said that two others died later of their wounds.

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