UN’s Ban In Burundi To Find A Way Out Of Crisis, Arrives Amid Political Tension

Image source: Karen Allen on Twitter

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is in Burundi to try to hammer out a deal to prevent a political conflict from escalating into a wider ethnic conflict.

BBC Africa Live report continues:

Just hours before he arrived, some of people were injured in a grenade attack in the capital, Bujumbura, which has faced similar incidents in the past few weeks.

The country has been gripped by violence since last April when President Pierre Nkurunziza declared his intentions to run for a third term.

More than 400 people have died in clashes between opposition groups and security forces and now neighbouring Rwanda is being accused of training a rebel militia to wreak havoc back in Burundi. 

But President Nkurunziza has remained defiant in the face of increasing pressure to agree on mediation talks with the opposition. 

A media advisor to Burundi's vice president has tweeted a picture of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon landing at Bujumbura airport.

Image source: Nancy Ninette Mutoni on Twitter

He's come to country amid concern about the continued violence that began soon after President Pierre Nkurunziza announced last April that he would be running for a third term.