Burundi Police Confront Anti-President Protesters, Army On Streets; Red Cross: 6 Killed In Anti-President Protests

Demonstrators protest against President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in power in Burundi's capital Bujumbura on April 27, 2015 ©Landry Nshimiye (AFP)

Police fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters in Burundi's capital on Monday, the second day of demonstrations against the president's decision to run for a third term, a move critics say violates the constitution.

"The fight continues," crowds chanted as about 200 people gathered in Bujumbura's Musaga district. Protesters massed in other parts of the city and tyres burned in the streets. Activists said at least five people were killed on Sunday, a day after President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would run in the June 26 election, triggering unrest in the east African nation that emerged from an ethnically fuelled civil war in 2005.

The police had no immediate comment on any casualties.

Activists say Nkurunziza broke the constitution and the Arusha peace agreement that ended the civil war, both documents which limit the president to two five-year terms.

Nkurunziza's supporters say his first term does not count as he was picked by lawmakers, not elected.

AP/Reuters report:

Tensions in Burundi have sent thousands of people fleeing across the border to Rwanda and created fresh turmoil in a region where other presidents, such as Joseph Kabila in Democratic Republic of Congo, are nearing presidential term limits.

Burundian riot police and opposition demonstrators confront each other in the capital Bujumbura, Burundi Monday, April 27, 2015. Street protests continued Monday in Burundi as anger mounts over the ruling party's decision on Saturday to nominate President Pierre Nkurunziza for a third term. (AP Photo/Andrew Njuguna)

Prominent activist Pierre Claver Mbonimpa said at least five people were killed in the capital on Sunday, three of them in protests and two more in an attack by the ruling party's Imbonerakure youth wing.

The ruling CNDD-FDD party has repeatedly denied charges its youth wing is armed and trying to cause violence. The head of police was expected to hold a news conference later in the day.

Army on Streets

A Reuters witness said the army had been deployed on the streets and now outnumbered police. Activists, who also reported the army deployment, said this could help calm the situation because the army was widely seen as a more neutral force.

"The military are aware that we are going to hold protests, but have warned us that they should remain peaceful and that's all we are asking for," activist Mbonimpa said by telephone.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon to try and break up crowds in another location.

Diplomats and opponents say the police are seen as more aligned to the ruling party, a charge the party denies.

One army officer was seen stopping police firing tear gas, a Reuters witness said. "Don't use violence. If anything worse happens, you will be responsible for that," the military officer was overheard telling a police officer.

A Burundian army soldier pours water on a burning-tyre roadblock erected by opposition protesters, as they watch, in the capital Bujumbura, Burundi Monday, April 27, 2015. Street protests continued Monday in Burundi as anger mounts over the ruling party's decision on Saturday to nominate President Pierre Nkurunziza for a third term. (AP Photo/Eloge Willy Kaneza)

Burundi's civil war pitted the army, then dominated by the ethnic Tutsi minority, against rebel groups mostly made up of majority Hutus, one of them led by Nkurunziza. The army now includes both ethnic groups.

Burundi Red Cross: 6 Killed In Anti-President Protests

At least six people have been killed in street clashes between the police and civilians demonstrating against the Burundian president's bid for a third term, a spokesman for the Burundi Red Cross said on Monday, as hundreds continued to gather in the streets of the capital despite a heavy military presence.

Three people were killed in clashes with the police on Sunday and three others died of their injuries overnight, Alexis Manirakiza told The Associated Press by phone from Bujumbura, Burundi's capital.

Seven more people had been wounded, he said.

Bujumbura has been hit by protests since Sunday after the ruling party nominated President Pierre Nkurunziza for another term, which many say is unconstitutional.

Hundreds of demonstrators erected barricades and set tires alight in Bujumbura on Monday. The military was deployed on the streets after violent clashes on Sunday.

Presidential elections are scheduled for June 26 and political tensions have been rising since the start of the year.

Burundi's constitution says the president "is elected by universal direct suffrage for a mandate of five years renewable one time," but Nkurunziza's supporters say he is eligible to serve a third term because he was first installed as president in 2005 by parliament to lead a transitional government, and not by a popular vote. He won the 2010 election as the sole candidate. Opposition members boycotted, saying they feared it would be rigged.

More than 250,000 people died in Burundi's civil war between Hutu rebels and a Tutsi-dominated army. The 2003 Arusha Peace Accord ended the war.

Those who oppose Nkurunziza, an ethnic Hutu, running for a third term include members of his own party, lawmakers, the clergy, student groups and civil society.

More than 10,000 Burundians have fled to neighboring Rwanda, citing pressure to support Nkurunziza's party. Others alleged violence by the ruling party's youth wing, known as Imbonerakure, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

Human Rights Watch has accused the Imbonerakure of committing serious rights abuses.

African and Western nations had all pressed Nkurunziza not to run again. The U.S. State Department said it was disappointed by the president's decision and said it would take "targeted measures" against anyone instigating or taking part in violence.

Bob Rugurika, another activist and director of private Burundi radio station RPA, said his station and two others had been stopped from broadcasting in the countryside, where much of Nkurunziza's popular support is based.

Rwandan officials said more than 20,000 people had now fled from Burundi to Rwanda, where more than 800,000 mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a 1994 genocide. Thousands have also fled to neighbouring Congo.