BUJUMBURA, Burundi — Carrying prized possessions, scores of people fled Burundi’s capital Saturday before a looming security crackdown that many fear will be a wave of violence.
A government-issued deadline to turn in illegal weapons or face extraordinary police action expired at midnight Saturday, and President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose decision to extend his rule sparked the country’s current crisis, has urged the security forces to use all means necessary to restore order.
But many here blame the security forces for a series of killings that has raised international concern and convinced residents in some volatile areas that they should flee their homes.
At least 198 people have been killed in Burundi since late April, when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced his bid that was ultimately successful for a third term in office, according to U.N. officials. At least 13 people have died in the past week, with many coming from Bujumbura neighborhoods known as opposition strongholds. More than 200,000 people have fled Burundi fearing violence.
Among the victims was Welly Nzitonda, the son of prominent human rights activist Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, who is himself in exile after an attempt on his life.
The United States on Saturday condemned the killing of Nzintonda — who according to a witness was arrested by police and whose body was discovered Friday in a pool of blood in an empty house in the capital — and said it was “gravely concerned” by ongoing violence in Burundi.
State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement the U.S. is “particularly concerned ” that the recent “inflammatory rhetoric” of some government officials and Nkurunziza’s planned security crackdown this weekend “are increasing the risk of an outbreak of mass violence in Burundi.” He said the United States “strongly urges” the government to call off the planned crackdown.
Fatou Bensouda, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, warned Friday of a worsening security situation and said perpetrators would face justice.
In Cibitoke and Mutakura, neighborhoods in northern Bujumbura that have been hotbeds of anti-government protests, some residents told said Saturday they had no option but to seek refuge elsewhere. To leave their home areas, they had to pass through search cordons mounted by the security personnel looking for illegal guns. Illegal weapons are guns owned by civilians who are not authorized to keep them.
Among those leaving their homes, some carried bed mats on their heads and children on their backs.
