BUJUMBURA
A leading opposition politician was shot and killed together with his guard on Saturday in Ngagara, an area northern capital Bujumbura, eyewitnesses have said.
They said Zedi Feruzi, the president of the Union for Peace and Democracy Party, was outside his home when a car stopped and gunmen inside it opened fire and killed him together with a bodyguard.
Two policemen were also wounded in the attack, the eyewitnesses said.
Anadolu Agency could not immediately obtain further information about the assassination of the politician.
Nevertheless, some observers told the agency that Feruzi's assassination was most likely connected with the ongoing political crisis in Burundi.
Burundi has been rocked by protests since the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy named incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza – in power since 2005 – its candidate for June presidential polls.
The country's 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 has ruled that Nkurunziza's third-term bid would not violate the constitution.
The court said since he was elected in 2005 by parliament and not by the people, Nkurunziza's first stint in office should not be counted as his first presidential term.
Since the protests broke out in late April, 26 people have been killed, hundreds of others have been injured and over 500 have been arrested, according to an Anadolu Agency tally based on police and opposition sources.
