(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) A policeman shot and killed a Burundian soldier in capital Bujumbura as political tension continues to haunt the Central African nation.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that a policeman opened fire on an army soldier in the city's Nyakabiga district, killing him instantly.
Reasons for the shooting remain unclear.
Pacifique Nininahazwe, an organizer of the demonstrations that have been ongoing in Bujumbura for nearly one month, told Anadolu Agency that the incident had led to tension between police and army forces deployed in the area.
"We noticed that the soldiers left the area to gather at the SOS Children's Village while police rallied close to the local university," the activist said.
The latest fatality brings the number of people killed since Burundi's political crisis erupted nearly four weeks ago to 24.
Burundi has been rocked by protests since late April, when the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy named President Pierre Nkurunziza € in power since 2005 € its candidate for June presidential polls.
The situation took a turn for the worse last week when a group of army generals staged a failed coup attempt against Nkurunziza while he was attending a regional summit in Tanzania.
The opposition says Nkurunziza does not have the right to seek a third term in office, citing Burundi's constitution, which limits the number of terms a president can serve to two.
Burundi's Constitutional Court, however, has ruled that a third-term bid by Nkurunziza would not violate the national charter.
The court ruled that, since he was elected in 2005 by parliament and not by popular vote, Nkurunziza's first stint in office should not be counted as a presidential term per se.
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