Three die in Burundi grenade attacks

                                                                                                                                                             Two Burundi police officers and a civilian were killed in two separate grenade attacks in the capital late on Friday, a police spokesman said, after the president warned of tough measures against those behind street protests. More than 10 people were wounded,
deputy police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye said in a phone message. The three were killed in the Kamenge district of Bujumbura but another area was also hit, he said.

One of the dead policemen was a senior officer.

Bujumbura has been rocked by six consecutive days of demonstrations against President Pierre Nkurunziza, who on Friday warned of “severe sanctions” against those protesting over his decision to seek a third term in office, Reuters says. The protests have sparked the biggest political crisis since an ethnically fuelled civil war ended in 2005.

The presidency has called the demonstration an “insurrection.” Opponents say Nkurunziza is violating the constitution and the Arusha peace deal by seeking a third five-year mandate at elections on June 26. Pre-vote fears have driven more than 26,000 Burundians to neighbouring Congo and Rwanda, officials say.