Gihanga : a soldier killed a young man and injured a sixty-year-old

The murder took place in the Gihungwe region in Gihanga district of Bubanza province (west). A soldier shot two people. Witnesses speak of an argument between a soldier and two civilians in a local bistro. A young man was killed on the spot, a sixty-year-old injured. The perpetrator of the murder was arrested. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The incident took place Saturday evening on the first avenue, according to witnesses. They talk about an argument between a soldier and two men that turned bad in a bar.

“During the altercation, the two civilians disarmed the soldier and took the rifle to the Gihungwe post to which he was assigned. The residents feared the worst,” they say. The concerned person went to the post to collect his weapon. He returned to the scene, clandestinely.

“It was at that moment when he started shooting in all directions with the intention of revenge. Suddenly, the young man was hit by several bullets in the head and died on the spot and the sixty-year-old was seriously injured while trying to flee,” reveals a survivor who says that “I remain traumatized.”

The soldier was arrested by his comrades-in-arms and taken to Bujumbura (commercial city). His place of detention has not yet been communicated but in such cases, those arrested are directly transferred to a military police cell.

Following this incident, angry residents are calling on the administration and the military hierarchy to transfer all soldiers from the Gihungwe post “who misbehave and who are known for their violent acts against the population”.

The administrator of Gihanga Léopold Ndayisaba and the head of military operations in this district reassure the population. They promised “a fair trial.”

This Sunday morning, the police and the army carried out a search in Gihungwe. Around fifty people without national identity cards were arrested. They have been released upon payment of an administrative fine of 2,000 Burundi francs each.

Residents say they were afraid, thinking of a rebel attack.