As violence continues to approach a "bursting point" in Burundi, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights chief has called for all actors in the ongoing crisis to take every step to deescalate the situation, citing fears of a potential civil war. This declaration comes following the attacks on Dec. 11, where 90 people died during a series of attacks against several military camps in Bujumbura, the bloodiest clash since a coup aimed at dethroning President Pierre Nkurunziza failed in May, according to Reuters.
Following the attacks, security forces carried out "intensive house searches" in the Musaga and Nyakabiga neighborhoods, where they arrested and subsequently executed hundreds of young men, and took many others to unknown locations.
"With this latest series of bloody events, the country seems to have taken a new step towards outright civil war and tensions are now at bursting point in Bujumbura," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement.
Though there was no immediate response from the government, which is notorious for dismissing accusations of human rights abuses, it maintains that it is open to dialogue.
Friday's attacks marks the latest incident in a string of sporadic violence and assassinations between supporters and opponents of Nkurunziza. Burundi has been in turmoil ever since he announced in April that he would run for a third term in office, reported UN News Centre. Though the election got pushed back several weeks due to various attacks against his regime, he ultimately won the election in July, causing violence in the area to escalate.
At the time, opponents said that by seeking a third term Nkurunziza violated a peace deal that ended the civil war in 2005 and resulted in his election. Conversely, supporters pointed to a ruling by the constitutional court which said that he could run again.
