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Burundi's de facto internal security chief killed in rocket attack on car Burundi's de facto internal security chief killed in rocket attack on car
(about 7 hours later)
A top Burundian general and close aide to the president, Pierre Nkurunziza, has been killed in a rocket attack on his car in the capital, Bujumbura, officials and witnesses said. A top Burundian general was assassinated on Sunday when his car was hit by rockets and raked with bullets, an audacious murder that could plunge the African nation into fresh conflict.
Gen Adolphe Nshimirimana was widely seen as the crisis-hit central African nation’s de facto internal security chief and even considered the regime’s No 2. Adolphe Nshimirimana was arguably the most powerful man in Burundi after president Pierre Nkurunziza and had been accused of ordering brutal crackdowns on anti-government protesters.
Police and witnesses said Nshimirimana’s car was attacked on Sunday shortly before midday, and he was later confirmed to have died. Rebels showed their ability to strike at the heart of the regime when Nshimirimana’s pick-up was ambushed, hit by two rockets and sprayed with automatic gunfire in the capital, Bujumbura, on Sunday morning, police and witnesses said. He was taken from the vehicle and later died from his wounds. His bodyguards were also killed.
The presidency’s communications chief, Willy Nyamitwe, confirmed that the general, a former army chief of staff and intelligence chief, had been killed. Four assailants wearing military fatigues drove off shortly after 8am, Reuters reported, quoting a taxi driver called Paul as saying: “Two had machine guns and two others rocket launchers. They came in military lorry and returned back in the same car.”
“I have lost a brother, a companion in the struggle. The sad reality is that Gen Adolphe Nshimirimana is no longer with this world,” he said in a message posted on Twitter. Photos distributed on social media showed a black bullet-riddled SUV with its front tyres flattened and side windows shot out.
The assassination comes just over a week after Nkurunziza was declared the outright winner of controversial elections, securing a third consecutive term despite opposition protests and international condemnation. Willy Nyamitwe, the presidency’s spokesperson, confirmed that the general, a former army chief of staff and head of Burundi’s intelligence service, had been killed. “I have lost a brother, a companion in the struggle. The sad reality is that general Adolphe Nshimirimana is no longer with this world,” he said in French in a post on Twitter.
Nkurunziza’s candidacy was condemned as unconstitutional by the opposition and provoked months of protests that left at least 100 dead, as well as an attempted coup in mid-May. The assassination comes just over a week after Nkurunziza was declared the winner of hotly disputed elections, securing a third consecutive term despite a boycott by nearly every opposition party and international condemnation.
Nshimirimana was seen as the mastermind behind the crackdown on the protests as well as a key player in foiling the coup attempt. Nkurunziza’s candidacy was described as unconstitutional by the opposition and triggered months of street protests in Bujumbura that left at least 100 people dead in a harsh government response, as well as an attempted coup in mid-May. More than 100,000 people have fled the country fearing further violence.
There are fears that renewed conflict in the country could reignite ethnic Hutu-Tutsi violence and bring another humanitarian disaster to central Africa’s troubled Great Lakes region. The last civil war in Burundi, which ended in 2006, left at least 300,000 people dead. Nshimirimana, who was in charge of the president’s personal security, was seen as the mastermind behind the crackdown and a key player in foiling the coup attempt. There are fears that his death could be a spark in what was already a tinderbox.
“The situation is very serious,” a source in the presidency told Agence-France Presse (AFP). “The general was somebody who was essential in the system. We are trying to manage the situation but it is not easy. Our boys want to take revenge.”
AFP reported sources saying that seven arrests had been made and quoted another senior pro-Nkurunziza general, who asked not to be named, as warning: “They have declared war and they will see what they get.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assassination, although the coup plotters have since regrouped and launched a rebellion in the north of the country, where last month the army claimed it had killed 31 insurgents and arrested 171 others. The rebels have also been linked to a numerous grenade attacks in Bujumbura.
Carina Tertsakian, senior researcher on Burundi and Rwanda at Human Rights Watch, said: “Adolphe Nshimirimana had continued wielding significant power, even after he was replaced as head of the intelligence services last year. He was one of the key hardliners around the president, increasingly so as support for Nkurunziza began waning with the latest political crisis.”
She added: “Human Rights Watch has received frequent allegations that he was behind many incidents of killing, torture, arrests of suspected opponents and other abuses over the past several years, although we are not in a position to link him personally to individual cases. He was generally seen as untouchable: no one in any position of power dared, or even suggested, trying to hold him to account. His death is therefore very significant, but the implications are hard to predict.”
African Union commission head Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said she was “horrified” by the assassination, condemning “this barbaric act that is likely to further destabilise the country”. She urged the Burundian government, opposition political parties and civil society “to work very closely together to find a lasting solution to the current crisis”.
Meanwhile Burundian journalist and AFP correspondent Esdras Ndikumana said he was detained by government security forces at the scene of the killing and badly beaten. He was held for around two hours, during with he said he was subjected to severe beatings on his back, legs and the soles of his feet. He was then released and hospitalised, with the injuries also including a suspected broken finger.
Michele Leridon, global news director of AFP, said she was “very shocked” by the attack, adding that the news agency would seek explanations from the Burundian authorities “and an assurance that such an incident will not happen again”.
Nkurunziza won the 21 July presidential polls with 69% of the vote. The international community condemned the elections as not credible because of violence, intimidation, media restrictions and questions over the legitimacy of a third term for Nkurunziza.
Analysts say there has been no sign so far of the dispute dividing along ethnic lines. A 12-year civil war pitted the military, which at the time was led by the Tutsi minority, against rebel factions of the majority Hutus, the biggest of which was led by Nkurunziza. It ended in 2006 and left at least 300,000 people dead.