BUJUMBURA, Burundi
At least six people were killed Wednesday in ongoing street fights in the Burundian capital between protestors and police over President Pierre Nkurunziza's plan to run for a third term, security officials have said.
According to a police spokesman, one policeman was killed by gunfire in Bujumbura's Cibitoke district, while five protestors were killed by security forces.
Burundi has been rocked by protest since the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy named President Pierre Nkurunziza – in power since 2005 – its candidate for the July 15 presidential polls.
The situation took a turn for the worse earlier last May 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, citing Burundi's constitution, which limits the number of terms a president can serve to two.
However, Burundi's Constitutional Court recently ruled that Nkurunziza's third-term bid would not violate the constitution.
The court ruled that, since he was elected in 2005 by parliament and not by the people, Nkurunziza's first stint in office should not be counted as a first presidential term per se.
