{The United States on Thursday issued a stark travel warning for Burundi after threats by Al Shabaab militants and imposed a de facto night-time curfew on US government staff in the country. The State Department warned all American citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the small country nestled in Africa’s Great Lakes region.}<\/p>\n
“The terrorist organization Al-Shabaab, based in Somalia, has threatened to conduct terror attacks in Burundi,” the travel warning said. “It may also target US interests in Burundi.”<\/p>\n
The State Department banned all US government personnel “from walking on the streets after dark and from using local public transportation at any time.”<\/p>\n
Armed groups are rife, and “crime, often committed by groups of armed bandits or street children, poses the highest risk for foreign visitors to both Bujumbura and Burundi in general.”<\/p>\n
Demonstrations should be avoided, as they can quickly turn violent, and when driving around town, windows and doors should be locked, the notice said.<\/p>\n
The State Department also warned against travelling outside the capital, Bujumbura, saying it “presents significant risks, especially after nightfall.” US embassy staff are also banned from leaving the capital between 6:00 pm and 7:00 am.<\/p>\n
“Likewise, US citizens should not travel on national highways from dusk to dawn. Armed criminals ambush vehicles, particularly on the roads leading out of Bujumbura,” it cautioned.<\/p>\n
Burundi emerged in 2006 from a brutal 13-year civil war, but its political climate remains fractious ahead of presidential polls in eight months’ time. It has been one of the main contributors to an African Union-led force in Somalia aimed at pushing out the Al-Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab.<\/p>\n
In September three elderly Italian nuns were raped and murdered in their convent in Bujumbura.<\/p>\n
US warns against Burundi travel amid Al Shabaab threat – News – www.theeastafrican.co.ke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{The United States on Thursday issued a stark travel warning for Burundi after threats by Al Shabaab militants and imposed a de facto night-time curfew on US government staff in the country. The State Department warned all American citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the small country nestled in Africa’s Great Lakes region.} “The terrorist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000054758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[99],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-17134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000054758,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17134.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17134.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17134.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17134.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17134.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17134.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000054758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17134"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=17134"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=17134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}