Nun, doctor shot dead in Burundi

2011-11-28 14:24

Bujumbura - Gunmen killed a Croatian nun and an Italian doctor who were working in a psychiatric clinic in northern Burundi, the head of the clinic said on Monday.

Although the landlocked central African nation has been plagued by rampant insecurity this year, the killings on Sunday night in the northern district of Kiremba, is the first targeting foreign aid workers since 2007.

"The armed bandits first cut the power and entered by force in the sisters' compound. They ordered the Croatian nun to give them money, and after that they shot her and she died immediately," said Father Rangoni Luciano from Italy, who works with the charity that runs the clinic.

The attackers kidnapped the Italian doctor forcing him to drive them and later killed him, added father Luciano. Local police confirmed the incident.

The Italian foreign ministry said at least one person was killed when attackers stormed the residence of the "Handmaids of Charity" in Ngozi in northern Burundi on Sunday.

An Italian helper at the mission, which works with the local hospital, was taken hostage and then killed, the ministry said in a statement.

Coffee-producing Burundi has enjoyed relative peace since Hutu rebel group, Forces for National Liberation, laid down its weapons and joined the government in 2009 after almost two decades of war.

But attacks on civilians and soldiers have intensified since elections last year were widely boycotted by the opposition.

- Reuters