{Burundian opposition member Pontien Barutwanayo was shot and killed Sunday at a bar in Isale, about 18 miles east of Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura. Three others were injured in the attack, according to South Africa’s News24. Barutwanayo’s killing marked the latest in ongoing political violence between Burundian opposition and President Pierre Nkurunziza’s ruling party.
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Barutwanayo was a member of Burundi’s main opposition party, the National Liberation Forces, which boycotted the East African country’s parliamentary and presidential elections. Agathon Rwasa, the former leader of the National Liberation Forces, was elected as a deputy speaker of Parliament, which could provide the opposition a platform in restive Burundi. However, civil unrest over Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term in office has continued unabated since April.
Emmanuel Ndereyimana, a supporter of Burundi’s opposition, was gunned down last month outside his parent’s house in the Kinama area. His attackers were allegedly from the ruling party’s youth league, known as Imbonerakure. Ndereyimana was organizing street protests against Nkurunziza’s controversial bid for re-election, the Associated Press reported. Zedi Feruzi, the head of Burundian opposition party UPD, and his bodyguard were shot to death in the Ngagara district of Bujumbura in May. Although his political party was not the nation’s largest, Feruzi was a prominent figure among Burundi’s opposition, the Guardian reported.
Meanwhile, former army chief and Nkurunziza loyalist Col. Jean Bikomagu was shot and killed in his car Aug. 13, and his daughter was wounded. “Another black weekend in Burundi. Blackened by the murder of a high-ranking member of the Burundian army in retirement … Very sad, very shocking,” Burundi presidential spokesman Willy Nyamitwe posted on Facebook, according to AP.
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